This blog is for everyone who uses words.

The ordinary-sized words are for everyone, but the big ones are especially for children.



Friday, 3 December 2021

Words To Consider Today: amateur/dilettante.

 An amateur doesn't get paid for, and a dilettante doesn't put much time or effort into, a chosen activity.

Or - to look at it another way - an amateur does what he does for love rather than for profit, and a dilettante does what he does purely for fun.

Does being paid mean the worker is more highly skilled? 

What kind of value does profit add?

Does doing something all the time mean it's done better than something done only fleetingly?


painting by Jan Vermeer

I leave it to yourself to determine.

Words To Consider Today: amateur/dilettante. The word dilettante comes from the Italian dilettare, to delight, from the Latin dēlectāre. The word amateur comes from French from the Latin word amāre, to love.




No comments:

Post a Comment

All comments are very welcome, but please make them suitable for The Word Den's family audience.