amat-, amor-, am-

(Latin: love, loving; fondness for; such as a man for a woman and a woman for a man)

Love at first sight is easy to understand. It's when two people have been looking at each other for years that it becomes a miracle.

—Sam Levenson
amateur (s) (noun), amateurs (pl)
1. Someone who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity for pleasure rather than for payment or as a pastime rather than as a profession: An amateur is someone who primarily loves or is greatly interested in doing something without being paid to do it.

Mrs. Flower was an amateur in her hobby of gardening, and she knew quite a lot about vegetables and flowers.
2. In sports, an athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restrictions specified by a regulatory body, for participating in a competition: Tom loved football and was an amateur who often played in football games in town.
3. Etymology: from French amateur, "lover of" from Old French which came from Latin amatorem, amator, "lover" from amatus, amare, "to love".

amateurish (adjective), more amateurish, most amateurish
Descriptive of something that was done unskillfully or unprofessionally: Sally tried baking a cake for the first time and her amateurish venture turned out to be quite flat because she forgot to put in the baking powder!

A new teacher can be one who lacks the skill of producing a competent result of getting her students quiet and at attention, and her amateurish efforts need to be changed into an authoritative direction.

amateurishly (adverb), more amateurishly, most amateurishly
Descriptive of how something is done without proper skills or training: Peggy played the piano quite amateurishly and without expertise because she had't had any piano lessons yet.
amateurishness (s) (noun) (no pl)
Something that demonstrates a lack of professional competency: There was an amateurishness to the way the play was put on by the students in the school.
amative (adjective), more amative, most amative
Inclined toward or displaying love: Sam adored and was devoted to his wife, and was very amorous and amative towards her, even after ten years of marriage!
amatively (adverb), more amatively, most amatively
Concerning how a person is Strongly moved by love: Jack and Jill were both amatively drawn towards each other and decided to get married after a very short time.
amativeness (s) (noun) (no pl)
The state or quality of the arousal of feelings of love; amorousness: Mark thought that his amativeness would improve if he took certain pills that he saw advertised on the internet.
amatory (adjective), more amatory, most amatory
Relating to, or expressive of love, particularly physical or sexual love: Mary was missing her husband's amatory attention and affection because he was either working in his office or gone on his many job-related trips to other countries.
Amor (proper noun)
1. In Roman mythology, the god of love, son of Venus; Cupid: Amor, or Cupid, was considered to be the personification of love.
2. In Greek mythology, Eros, the god of love, son of Aphrodite: It is said that Amor, or Eros, caused people to fall in love by letting an arrow fly into their hearts!
Amor patriae. (Latin phrase)
Translation: "Love of fatherland."

Love for one's native country.

Amor vincit omnia.(Latin statement)
Translation: "Love conquers all."

Normally, the order in Latin is "Omnia vincit amor."

Amore et tilmore. (Latin motto)
Translation: "Through love and fear."

Motto of German Emperor Joseph I (1705-1711).

amorous (adjective), more amorous, most amorous
Conveying an inclination to display or to show love: Patty doesn’t want her boyfriend to show amorous, or romantic,  affections towards her when they are visiting her parents.
Descriptive of loving someone .
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amorously (adverb), more amorously, most amorously
Relating to how someone expresses, shows, or feels romantic love or special attraction to someone: Peter not only looked at the beautiful girl amorously, but also envisioned her as being his girlfriend.
amorousness (s) (noun), amorousness es (pl)
The quality of showing, feeling, or relating to being in love; infatuated or captivated with; amorosity: Jack showed a great amount of amorousness for his job.

The strong affection and desire, or amorousness, towards his friend's sister was obvious every time they got together.

This "love" unit is the main contributing source for the words in the ami- or "friend" unit.

Related "love, fondness" units: agape-; philo-; vener-; venus.