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Amateur comes from a Latin word meaning what?

amateur

[am-uh-choor, -cher, -ter, am-uh-tur] / ˈæm əˌtʃʊər, -tʃər, -tər, ˌæm əˈtɜr /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Instead, he’s in Sweden, raising two boys, working as a quality control inspector for a textile company and playing amateur soccer for a team in the country’s fifth division.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

The trouble with becoming an amateur food-safety inspector is that the job is never quite finished.

From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2026

Egypt's border force said in June that it had seized 86 tonnes of gold ore along with amateur prospecting equipment.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

"It's absolutely heartbreaking. It really is emotionally devastating, because it's utter despair: no more lake," said amateur local historian David Favre, who lives in the Swiss village of Les Brenets.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

He introduced him to the cream of goblin society, and to dancers, singers, painters, schoolteachers, and merchants with an amateur love of history, the kindest and most curious people he knew in Tenebrion.

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

“He’s actually more suited to the pro game than the amateurs with the aluminum bats,” Fontaine told The Times after the draft.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

An old adage has it that strategy is for amateurs and logistics is for professionals.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

William rode alongside top professional players and keen amateurs at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

The actors, seasoned veterans as well as young amateurs, go through their lines and movements one last time before the curtain rises at the Wole Soyinka Theatre at the University of Ibadan, in southwest Nigeria.

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

As with the search for extraterrestrial life today, the unbridled speculation of amateurs had frightened many professionals out of the field.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan


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