Etymologically
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amateur

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 18:22. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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)