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amateur

[am-uh-choo

r, -cher, -ter, am-uh-tur]

noun

a person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons. Compare professional.

an athlete who has never competed for payment or for a monetary prize.

a person inexperienced or unskilled in a particular activity: Hunting lions is not for amateurs.

a person who admires something; devotee; fan: an amateur of the cinema.

adjective

characteristic of or engaged in by an amateur; nonprofessional: an amateur painter; amateur tennis.

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Amateur is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Origin:
1775–85; < French, Middle French < Latin amātor lover, equivalent to amā- (stem of amāre to love) + -tor -tor, replaced by French -teur (< Latin -tōr-, oblique stem of -tor); see -eur

Related forms

pro·am·a·teur, adjective

Can be confused: amateur, armature.

Synonyms
2. nonprofessional. 3. dilettante, tyro, novice.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To amateur

Example Sentences

In an age of specialists I find no end of fun in being an amateur.

But that's a sure sign of a total amateur.

My first camera was a Christmas present from my father, a good amateur photographer.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

amateur (ˈæmətə, -tʃə, -ˌtjʊə, ˌæməˈtɜː)

—n
1.	a person who engages in an activity, esp a sport, as a pastime rather than professionally or for gain
2.	an athlete or sportsman
3.	a person unskilled in or having only a superficial knowledge of a subject or activity
4.	a person who is fond of or admires something
5.	(modifier) consisting of or for amateurs: an amateur event

—*adj*
6.	amateurish; not professional or expert: an amateur approach

[C18: from French, from Latin amātor lover, from amāre to love]

'amateurism

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

amateur

1784, "one who has a taste for (something)," from Fr. amateur "lover of," from O.Fr., from L. amatorem (nom. amator) "lover," from amatus, pp. of amare "to love" (see Amy). Meaning "dabbler" (as opposed to professional) is from 1786.

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Matching Quote

"Miss Dudley ... gives one the idea of a lightly-sparred yacht in mid- ocean; unexpected; you ask yourself what the devil she is doing there. She sails gaily along, though there is no land in sight and plenty of rough weather coming. She never read a book, I believe, in her life. She tries to paint, but she is only a second-rate amateur and will never be any thing more, though she has done one or two things which I give you my word I would like to have done myself. She picks up all she knows without an effort and knows nothing well, yet she seems to understand whatever is said. Her mind is as irregular as her face, and both have the same peculiarity. I notice that the lines of her eyebrows, nose and mouth all end with a slight upward curve like a yacht's sails, which gives a kind of hopefulness and self-confidence to her expression. Mind and face have the same curves."

-Henry Brooks Adams

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