dilettante

English

WOTD – 25 July 2010

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪləˈtɒnti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪlɪˌtɑnt/

Noun

dilettante (plural dilettanti or dilettantes)

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

Derived terms

• dilettantish, dilettanteish
• dilettantism, dilettanteism

Related terms

• delectable
• delight

Translations

amateur

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 業餘人士；一知半解的人

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

• Portuguese: diletante (pt) m f
• Romanian: diletant (ro) m, amator (ro) m
• Russian: дилета́нт (ru) m (diletánt), люби́тель (ru) m (ljubítelʹ), непрофессионал (ru) m (neprofessional), профа́н (ru) m (profán), (informal) ча́йник (ru) m (čájnik), (informal) ла́поть (ru) m (lápotʹ), (colloquial, somewhat) лох (ru) m (lox)
• Spanish: diletante (es)
• Swedish: dilettant (sv) c, klåpare (sv)

person who enjoys the arts, regardless of expertise

• Dutch: kunstliefhebber m, (e) dilettant (nl)
• German: Kunstliebhaber m
• Hungarian: műkedvelő (hu)
• Portuguese: diletante (pt) m f

• Romanian: diletant (ro) m
• Spanish: diletante (es)
• Swedish: dilettant (sv) c, amatörmålare c, amatör (sv) c

person with a general but superficial interest

• Dutch: liefhebber (nl) m, amateur (nl) m
• German: Dilettant (de) m, Nichtfachmann m
• Hungarian: dilettáns (hu)
• Norwegian: dilettant (no) m

• Portuguese: diletante (pt) m f
• Russian: дилета́нт (ru) m (diletánt)
• Spanish: diletante (es)
• 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} diletant
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} diletanto
• French: ^{(please verify)} dilettante (fr) m, f
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} dilettante

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} dilettante m, f
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} дилетант m (diletant)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} diletant (ro) m
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} дилетант m (diletant)

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

• Bulgarian: дилетантски (diletantski), любителски (ljubitelski)
• Dutch: dilettantisch
• French: dilettante (fr)
• German: dilettantisch (de)

• Russian: дилета́нтский (ru) (diletántskij), люби́тельский (ru) (ljubítelʹskij), непрофессиональный (ru) (neprofessionalʹnyj)
• 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.

Further reading

• 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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French

Noun

dilettante m, f (plural dilettantes)

1. dilettante

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Interlingua

Noun

dilettante (plural dilettantes)

1. dilettante

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Italian

Etymology

From dilettare "to delight"

Adjective

dilettante (masculine and feminine plural dilettanti)

1. amateur

Noun

dilettante m, f (plural dilettanti)

1. amateur
2. dilettante