amateur French · revision 15722

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1488, Mer des histoires|origins=la amō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.ma.tœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''amateur''' ''m'' (plural amateurs, feminine amatrice or amateure)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|amātor|t=lover; supporter]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|24, 396a) from [[m|la|amō|t=to love]], the source of [[aimer]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) It replaced Old French [[m|fro|ameor]] (nominative [[m|fro|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.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873) Its special sense in the arts follows [[it|amatore]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Compare [[oc|amaire]], [[es|amador]] and [[it|amatore]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the arts it is a person who loves painting or music without practising it as a profession (late 17th century^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); Académie 1762), and so, pejoratively, a dabbler (Stendhal 1822^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); ''travailler en amateur'', 1845).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ In trade an ''amateur'' is a likely buyer, especially of works of art (1886).^(DHLF 1992) 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^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi); Mérimée had already spoken of amateur bullfighters in 1833.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The feminine ''amatrice'' (before 1547) was revived by Rousseau and called a new word by the Académie in 1798.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1488 – “One who loves (someone)”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1504 – “One who loves (something)” (Jean Lemaire).^(TLFi)

+ * before 1547 – ''Amatrice''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1762 – A lover of the arts who does not practise them (Académie).^(TLFi)

+ * 1822 – A dabbler (Stendhal).^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1886 – A likely buyer.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1892 – ''Amateurisme'', in cycling.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1898 – A non-professional sportsman.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person with a taste for something; a [[m|en|lover]] or [[m|en|connoisseur]]: ''amateur de musique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A possible [[m|en|buyer]]: ''avis aux amateurs''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # An [[m|en|amateur]], someone who pursues an art or sport for pleasure, not as a profession.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(pejorative)'' A dabbler who lacks skill or seriousness.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Amateur, non-professional: ''un photographe amateur''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[amateurisme]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aimer]]

+ * [[amour]]

+ * [[la|amātor]]

+ * [[en|amateur]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}