different between dilettante vs layman

English

Alternative forms

• dilettant

Etymology

From Italian dilettante, prop. present participle of dilettare (“to delight”), from Latin d?lect?re (“to delight”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d?l??t?nti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?d?l??t?nt/

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.

   Synonyms: amateur, dabbler

   Antonym: professional

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
• dildo (by way of 'diletto')

Translations

See also

• amateur

Adjective

dilettante (comparative more dilettante, superlative most dilettante)

1. Pertaining to or like a dilettante.

Translations

Further reading

• 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. -t?).
• dilettante” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]

Further reading

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

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.l?.t??t/

Noun

dilettante m or f (plural dilettantes)

1. dilettante

Interlingua

Noun

dilettante (plural dilettantes)

1. dilettante

Italian

Etymology

From dilettare (“to delight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.let?tan.te/

Noun

dilettante m or f (plural dilettanti)

1. amateur
2. dilettante

Descendants

• ? English: dilettante
• ? German: Dilettant

Adjective

dilettante (plural dilettanti)

1. amateur

Related terms

• dilettevole

English

Etymology

From Middle English lay +? man.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?le?m?n/
• Rhymes: -e?m?n

Noun

layman (plural laymen)

1. Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
2. (by extension) Someone who is not a professional in a given field.

3. A common person.
4. A person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 221d.

     should he be held to be just a layman, or does he have some art?

5. A generally ignorant person.
6. Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.

Antonyms

• cleric
• priest
• monk
• friar
• expert
• specialist
• professional

Derived terms

• in layman's terms

Related terms

• laity

Translations

Anagrams

• yalman