| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| profess |
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| SYLLABICATION: | pro·fess |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  pr -f s , pr - |
| VERB: | Inflected forms: pro·fessed, pro·fess·ing, pro·fess·es
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To affirm openly; declare or claim: “a physics major [who] professes to be a stickler when it comes to data” (Gina Maranto, Atlantic Monthly June 1995). 2. To make a pretense of; pretend: “top officials who were deeply involved with the arms sales but later professed ignorance of them” (David Johnston, New York Times Book Review February 2, 1993). 3a. To practice as a profession or claim knowledge of: profess medicine. b. To teach (a subject) as a professor: profess literature. 4. To affirm belief in: profess Catholicism. 5. To receive into a religious order or congregation. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To make an open affirmation. 2. To take the vows of a religious order or congregation. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English professen, to take vows, from Old French profes, that has taken a religious vow (from Medieval Latin professus, avowed) and from Medieval Latin profess re, to administer a vow, both from Latin professus, past participle of profit r , to affirm openly : pro-, forth; see pro–1 + fatr, to acknowledge; see bh-2 in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | pro·fessed·ly (-fs d-l) —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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