dilettante

English

WOTD - 25 July 2010    

Etymology

From Italian dilettante, prop. present participle of dilettare (“to delight”), from Latin delectare (“to delight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdɪlətənt/

Noun

dilettante (plural dilettanti or (rarely) dilettantes)

1. An amateur, someone who dabbles in a field out of casual interest rather than as a profession or serious interest.
2. A person with a general but superficial interest in any art or a branch of knowledge. (Sometimes derogatory.)

Derived terms

• dilettantish, dilettanteish
• dilettantism, dilettanteism

Related terms

• delectable
• delight

Translations

amateur

Dutch: liefhebber (nl) m., amateur (nl) m. German: Dilettant (de) m., Amateur (de) m., Stümper (de) m., Laie (de) m. Norwegian: dilettant (no) m.

Russian: дилетант (ru) (dil'etánt) m., любитель (ru) m., непрофессионал (ru) m., профан (ru) m., (informal) чайник (ru) m., (informal) лапоть (ru) m., (colloquial, somewhat) лох (ru) m. Swedish: dilettant (sv) c. Traditional Chinese: 業餘人士；一知半解的人 Traditional Chinese: 業餘人士；一知半解的人

person who enjoys the arts, regardless of expertise

Dutch: kunstliefhebber m., dilettant(e) German: Kunstliebhaber (de) m.

Hungarian: műkedvelő (hu) Swedish: dilettant (sv) c., amatörmålare (sv) c., amatör (sv) c.

person with a general but superficial interest

Dutch: liefhebber (nl) m., amateur (nl) m. German: Dilettant (de) m., Nichtfachmann (de) m. Hungarian: dilettáns (hu)

Norwegian: dilettant (no) m. Russian: дилетант (ru) (dil'etánt) m. Swedish: dilettant (sv) c., amatör (sv) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: diletant Esperanto: diletanto French: dilettante m. and f. Interlingua: dilettante Italian: dilettante m. and f. Macedonian: дилетант m.

Portuguese: diletante m. and f. Romanian: diletant m. Serbo-Croatian: дилетант (diletant) m. Spanish: diletante m. and f.

See also

• amateur
• dabbler

Adjective

dilettante (comparative more dilettante, superlative most dilettante)

1. Pertaining to or like a dilettante.

Translations

pertaining to or like a dilettante

Dutch: dilettantisch (nl) French: dilettante (fr) German: dilettantisch (de)

Russian: дилетантский (ru), любительский (ru), непрофессиональный (ru) Spanish: diletante (es) Swedish: amatörmässig (sv) c.

References

• A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by H. W. Fowler (1926; Oxford at the Clarendon Press; London: Humphrey Milford), page 115
    dilettante. Pl. -ti (pron. -tē).
• “‖dilettante” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]
    (dɪlɪˈtæntɪ, It. diletˈtante Pl. dilettanti (-tiː), rarely -es.

External links

• dilettante in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• dilettante in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Interlingua

Noun

dilettante (plural dilettantes)

1. dilettante

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Italian

Etymology

From dilettare "to delight"

Adjective

dilettante m. and f. (m and f plural dilettanti)

1. amateur

Noun

dilettante m. and f. (plural dilettanti)

1. amateur
2. dilettante