Etymograph

English

amatrice

Amatrice comes from Latin amātrīx ‘a female lover, a beloved’, and goes back to amō ‘love’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamō1‘love’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamātrīx2as amātrīcem‘a female lover, a beloved’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600amatrice2
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentamatrice3
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1824amatrice3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin amatrix
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French amatrice
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English amatrice
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1824, Thomas Dodd, The Connoisseur’s Repertory; or: “An amatrice, who practised in the fine arts, flourished…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamōWiktionary, Latin amatrix‘love’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamātrīxWiktionary, French amatriceas amātrīcem‘a female lover, a beloved’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600amatriceWiktionary, French amatrice
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentamatriceWiktionary, English amatrice
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1824amatriceWiktionary, English amatrice. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1824, Thomas Dodd, The Connoisseur’s Repertory; or: “An amatrice, who practised in the fine arts, flourished…”

Linked words

through Latin amō ‘love’

enemy, enmity, amour, amity, amicable, amenity, inimical, 19 more

Today it means

noun A female amateur.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amatrice”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin amatrix, French amatrice. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin amō / amatrice

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