Who is an amateur? Is it a layman or a genius?

In our time, almost everyone, often without knowing the true meaning, uses a word like an amateur. This is one of those terms that sounds majestic, beautiful and exquisite, but it is not always appropriate. In order for you to be able to correctly and, most importantly - at the right time to use this word, let's try to understand its origin and current meaning.

History of the origin of the term

There is a version according to which the amateur is a borrowed expression that has migrated into our speech from the French language. However, if you dig deeper, at the very root of the etymology of this word, you can find out that, according to its lexical structure, dilettante is the Italian word. In the same language it passed from a long-dead Latin, where it sounded like delecrate, which in Russian means to amuse, delight, and love. During the time of the Roman Empire, this term was applied when it was a question of a certain artist who was engaged in his work without special training. True, at that time there were no schools in our modern understanding. Everyone studied himself, so the dilettante was, so to speak, a prestigious "title", which was given by talented, gifted people.

Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries

When schools, universities, specialized educational institutions appeared in the states of the Old World, where one could get an education in one of the directions, the meaning of the term changed. After all, people who graduated from the same institute were considered professionals (in all senses of the word), and those self-taught people who worked on an equal basis with them began to be called simply and shortly - an amateur. He is a man who probably did not yield to a professional with his talents and skills, but he did not have the profile training, and everything he did, he did in his own way, different from the usual standards. Naturally, society did not always (more rarely very rarely) recognize such craftsmen, which influenced the further change in the meaning of the word, from neutral to more negative.

The term "amateur" in Russian and culture

The very word "dilettante" appeared in the conversations and literature of the Russian people in the early 19th century, and it came to us precisely from France (which is why the version of his French origin appeared). At that time it was fashionable to speak this language, and indeed our ancestors often copied the culture of the West. In those days, amateurs were often called people who had a relationship with music. Professional schools were very few, so those who wanted to play piano, violin or other instruments, often learned by themselves or borrowed experience from friends, acquaintances and high-ranking individuals. Amateurishness in music was very common, so among the self-taught artists there were both brilliant personalities and completely incompetent people. It's interesting to know that the famous composer Schubert, in fact, was also an amateur. All his youth he spent in the attic, behind the keys of the old piano, composing his melodies. He even came up with his own names of notes, and only at the age of 20 learned professionally.

Acquisition of a wide range

In the 20th century, the term began to extend to virtually all spheres of human life. Amateurs were people who were unprofessionally engaged in painting, sculpture, theater and music. They were equated with scientists who conducted their experiments, being uneducated and not even well-read in a certain field of knowledge. Among these, many nonprofessionals really divorced, who wanted to become famous simply without having any base and training. At the same time, an amateur is a person who, doing his own thing, does poor work because of his ignorance. As we can see, the original word has not lost its original essence, only a few has extended the scope of application.