amateur

adjective ah-mah-TEHR Rare

Origin: French amateur, from Latin amator (lover), from amare (to love).

Also means

non-professional

Usage Note

Amateur is used unchanged in Spanish (both adjective and noun) to describe someone who pursues an activity without professional status or payment; the plural is amateurs. It does not carry the pejorative edge of the English informal use ('amateurish') — for that sense Spanish uses aficionado pejoratively or chapucero (botched). Stress falls on the final syllable.

Examples

"El equipo amateur ganó el torneo regional."

Natural Translation

The amateur team won the regional tournament.

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