First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
profess
verb pro·fess \prə-ˈfes, prō-\
: to say or declare (something) openly
: to say that you are, do, or feel something when other people doubt what you say
: to believe in (a particular religion)
Full Definition of PROFESS
transitive verb
1
: to receive formally into a religious community following a novitiate by acceptance of the required vows
2
3
: to confess one's faith in or allegiance to
4
a : to practice or claim to be versed in (a calling or profession) b : to teach as a professor
intransitive verb
1
: to make a profession or avowal
2
obsolete : to profess friendship
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Origin of PROFESS
in sense 1, from Middle English, from profes, adjective, having professed one's vows, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin professus, from Latin, past participle of profitēri to profess, confess, from pro- before + fatēri to acknowledge; in other senses, from Latin professus, past participle — more at confess
Related to PROFESS
Rhymes with PROFESS
abscess, access, address, aggress, assess, bench-press, caress, clothespress, coatdress, cold-press, compress, confess, cross-dress, CS, depress, de-stress, digress, distress, drill press, egress, excess, express, finesse, fluoresce, French press, full-dress, handpress, headdress, housedress, idlesse, impress, ingress, Meknes, much less, nightdress, noblesse, no less, obsess, oppress, outguess, possess, precess, prestress, princess, process, progress, recess, redress, regress, re-press, repress, shirtdress, side-dress, SS, success, sundress, suppress, tendresse, top-dress, transgress, undress, unless, web press, winepress, word stress
PROFESS Defined for Kids
profess
verb pro·fess \prə-ˈfes\
pro·fessedpro·fess·ing
Definition of PROFESS for Kids
1
: to declare openly <He professed his love.>
2
: pretend 2 <She professed to be my friend.>
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