amateur

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.ma.tœʁ/^[1]

Forms

amateur m (plural amateurs, feminine amatrice or amateure)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin amātor (“lover; supporter”),^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} from amō (“to love”), the source of aimer.^[3][1] It replaced Old French ameor (nominative ameres), the inherited form of the same Latin word, which meant a lover but also someone who loves peace or the good, and was usual until the 15th century.^[3][4][1][7] Its special sense in the arts follows Italian amatore.^[3]

Compare Occitan amaire, Spanish amador and Italian amatore.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Mer des histoires (1488) asks a king to be a doulx amateur des indigents, a gentle friend of the poor; the word was much used in the 16th century with a person as complement.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From someone who loves a person, amateur came to mean someone with a taste for a thing, as Lemaire's Caesar was a curieux amateur des perles (1504); Furetière (1690) notes that it is no longer said of people.^[2][3] In the arts it is a person who loves painting or music without practising it as a profession (late 17th century^[2][3][4]; Académie 1762), and so, pejoratively, a dabbler (Stendhal 1822^[2][3][4]; travailler en amateur, 1845).^[2][3][4]

In trade an amateur is a likely buyer, especially of works of art (1886).^[3] English took the word in the 18th century, and the sense “sportsman who competes for no money” returned to French, found in 1859 and current from 1898 in cycling^[4][3][2]; Mérimée had already spoken of amateur bullfighters in 1833.^[4][3][2] The feminine amatrice (before 1547) was revived by Rousseau and called a new word by the Académie in 1798.^[2]

Timeline

• 1488 – “One who loves (someone)”.^[2][3]
• 1504 – “One who loves (something)” (Jean Lemaire).^[2]
• before 1547 – Amatrice.^[2]
• 1762 – A lover of the arts who does not practise them (Académie).^[2]
• 1822 – A dabbler (Stendhal).^[3]
• 1886 – A likely buyer.^[3]
• 1892 – Amateurisme, in cycling.^[3]
• 1898 – A non-professional sportsman.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person with a taste for something; a lover or connoisseur: amateur de musique.^[8][9]
2. A possible buyer: avis aux amateurs.^[8][9]
3. An amateur, someone who pursues an art or sport for pleasure, not as a profession.^[8][9]
4. (pejorative) A dabbler who lacks skill or seriousness.^[9][2]

Adjective

1. Amateur, non-professional: un photographe amateur.^[1][9]

Word family

• amateurisme

Related words

• aimer
• amour
• Latin amātor
• English amateur

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 396a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)