profess 
47oo 
profess, confess, (pro, forth, + fateri, confess, professedly (pro-fes'ed-li), adv. [<. professed 
Cf. confess.'] I. trans. 1. To declare openly; + -ty'AJ By profession; avowedly; by open 
make open declaration of; 
ledge ; own freely ; affirm. 
And then will I profess unto them, I nerer knew you 
depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Mat. viL 3. 
IB It Bin 
Still to profess I love you, still to vow 
I shall do ever? 
Beau, and I'l . Knight of Malta, v. 1. 
We prof en 
Ourselves to be the slaves of chance. 
Shak., W. T., Iv. 4. 550. 
Many things which they did were hy the Apostles them- 
selves profest to be done only for the present. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng. , i. 
Rodolph would not consecrate Thurstane unless he 
would pro/em Obedience. Baiter, Chronicles, p. 41. 
2. To acknowledge or own publicly; also, to 
lay claim openly to the character of. 
I first discover'd 
Her bloody purposes, which she made good, 
And openly profess'd 'em. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, v. 2. 
But Purbeck (as profess'd, a huntress and a nun) 
The wide and wealthy sea, nor all his pow'r respects. 
Drayton, I'olyolblon, II. 92. 
3. To affirm faith in or allegiance to: as, to 
profess Christianity. 
Ky the saint whom I profess, I will plead against it with 
my life. Shak., Si. for -M., tv. 2. 192. 
We sometimes And men loud in their admiration of 
truths which they never profess. 
J. It. Nettman, Gram, of Assent, p. 159. 
4. To make a show of; make protestations of; 
make a pretense of; pretend. 
The wretched man gan then avise too late 
That love is not where most it is profest. 
Spenter, F. Q., II. x. 31. 
avow or ackuow- declaration or avowal. 
profession (pro-fesh'on), H. [< ME, .profession!!, 
: professiun, < (>F. profession, F. profession = Sp. 
profegion = Pg.profissSo = It. professione, < L. 
professio(n-), a public acknowledgment or ex- 
pression, < profiteri, pp. professus, declare pub- 
licly: see pro/ess.] 1. The act of professing; 
open declaration; public avowal or acknow- 
ledgment of one's sentiments or belief. 
Grant unto all those who are admitted Into the fellow- 
ship of Christ's Religion that they may avoid those things 
that are contrary to their profession. 
Soelt of Commnn Prayer, Collect for Third Sunday after 
I Easier. 
I hold It [christening) a good and gracious woorke, for 
the generall profession which they then take upon them 
of the Cross and faythe of Christ. 
Spenter, State of Ireland. 
2. That which is professed; a declaration; a 
representation or protestation ; pretense ; spe- 
cifically, an open and formal avowal of Chris- 
tian faith and purpose. 
It Is natural in absence to make professions of an in- 
violable constancy. Steele, Tatler, No. 104. 
Perhaps, though by profetrion ghostly pure. 
He too (the priest] may have his vice. 
Cotcper, Task, Iv. 803. 
What would he (Balaam) have given if words and feel- 
ings might have passed for deeds ! See how religious he 
was so far as prof ration goes ! 
J. II. Xetrman, Parochial Sermons, i. 199. 
3. The calling or occupation which one pro- 
fesses to understand and to follow; vocation; 
specifically, a vocation in which a professed 
knowledge of some department of science or 
learning is used by its practical application to 
affairs of others, either in advising, guiding, or 
Wee profane to decide our controversies only by the teaching them, or in serving their interests or 
Scriptures. Milton, On Def. of Humb. RemonsL welfare in the practic-p of an art founded on it. 
ere specifically 
5. To announce publicly one's skill in, as a sci- 
ence or a profession ; declare one's self versed 
in : as, to profess surgery. 
I thank him that he cuts me from my tale ; 
For I profen not talking. Shak., \ Hen. IV., v. a. 92. 
The several! Schooles wherein the seven liberall sci- 
ences arc professed. Coryat, Crudities, I. 67. 
Medicine is a science which hath been, as we have said, 
more professed than laboured. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 193. 
6. In the Horn. Cuth. and Anglican churches, to 
receive into a religious order by profession. 
I prey yow wyt al my herte, and as I evere may do yow 
service, that it lyke to your grace to graunte of your 
charite, by yowr worthy lettres to the priour of Thetford 
In Norfolk, of the seyde ordre of Clunye, autorite and 
power as your ministre and depute to professe In dwc 
forme the seyd nionkes of Bromholm unprofessed. 
Pa/tan Letters, I. 30. 
Neither a slave nor a married person (without the con- 
sent of the other spouse) . . . can be valldly professed. 
Rom. Cath. Diet., p. 609. 
7. To present the appearance of. [Rare.] 
Yet did her face and former parts profette 
A faire young Mayden. full of comely glee. 
Spenser, F. Q., VI. vl. 10. 
= 8yn. 1 and 2. To declare, allege, aver, avouch. 4. To 
lay claim to. 
II. intrans. 1. To declare openly; make any 
declaration or assertion. 2. To enter into the 
religious state by public declaration or profes- 
sion. 
Formerly theology, law, and medicine 
known as the profesxiont; but, as the applications of science 
and learning are extended to other departments of affairs, 
other vocations also receive the name. The word Implies 
professed attainments in special knowledge, as distin- 
guished from mere skill ; a practical dealing with attaint, 
as distinguished from mere study or Investigation ; and an 
application of such knowledge to uses for others as a 
vocation, as distinguished from Its pursuit for one's own 
purposes. In professions strictly so called a preliminary 
examination as to qualifications is usually demanded hy 
law or usage, and a license or other official authority 
founded thereon required. In law the significance of 
the word has been contested under statutes imposing 
taxes on persons pursuing any "occupation, trade, or pro- 
fession, " and under statutes authorizing arrest In civil 
actions for misconduct in a " professional employment " ; 
and it has been, in the former use, held clearly to Include 
the vocation of an attorney, ami upon the same principle 
would doubtless include physicians, unless the mention 
of trade, etc., in the same clause of the statute be ground 
for Interpreting the statute as relating only to business 
vocations. Professional employment, in statutes allowing 
arrest, is regarded as not including a private agency like 
that of a factor or a real-estate broker, which can be 
taken up and laid down at pleasure. 
Being mechanical, you ought not walk 
I'pon a labouring day without the sign 
Of your profession. Speak, what trade art thon? 
Shak., J. C., i. 1 . :. 
I hold every man a debtor to hia profession. 
Bacon, Maxims of the Law, Pref. 
New professions have come into existence, and the old 
professions are more esteemed. It was formerly a poor 
and beggarly thing to belong to any other than the three 
learned professions. W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 262. 
4. The collective body of persons engaged in a 
They [Calamarians] cannot profess before they are twen- calling : as, practices disgraceful to the profes- 
.. .. .,1.1 . ami tl,..i ,.i-n t-.L.. th.. vnw aftpr that Of/in ' t.n nn nf flip nnfln nf nilp H in'OJI'HXHItl . O. 
ty-flve years old ; and they may take the vow after that 
age without probation. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. II. 4. 
3f. To declare or pretend friendship. 
As he does conceive 
He Is dishonour'd by a man which ever 
Profess'd to him, why, his revenges must 
In that be made more bitter. 
Shak., W. T., i. 2. 456. 
professed (pro-fesf), p. a. [Pp. of profess, t.] 
Avowed ; declared ; pledged by profession ; pro- 
fessional: as, a professed woman-hater ; & pro- 
fessed nun ; a professed cook. 
Use well our father ; 
To your professed bosoms I commit him. 
Shak., Lear, 1. 1. 275. 
Mr. Simpkinson from Bath was a professed antiquary, 
and one of the first water. 
Barhain, Ingoldsby Legends. I. 26. 
The professed beauties, who are a people almost as in- 
sufferable' as the professed wits. Steele, Spectator, No. 33. 
Though not Professed hut Plain, still her (the cook's] 
wages should be a sufficient object to her. .*-- - ^ 
Dickens, Edwin Drood, xxil. pnate to a profession or calling: as, profes- 
Monk (or nun) professed, one who by promise freely sional studies; professional skill, 
made and accepted has. after a year of probation, been With hisqulcki/ro/eMtona{eye,he[an Italian organ-boy] 
received in and bound to a religious order. took note of the two faces watching him from the arched 
Thare come the prior of the plas, and professidc monnket. window, and, opening his instrument, began to scatter its 
Mortf Arthurt (E. E. T. S,), 1. 4014. melodies abroad. Hauthanu, Seven Gables, xl. 
sion; "to beat the he&dot one's profession. 5. 
The act by which a novice enters into a reli- 
gious order and takes its vows. In the Roman 
Catholic Church he or she must be at least six- 
teen years of age and must have completed a 
year of probation. 
He ... yalt [yleldeth himself] into somme covente [con- 
vent] . . . 
If he there make his mansloun (abiding-place) 
For to abide professiovn. Rom. of the Rose, 1. 4910. 
A religious or regular profession Is "a promise freely 
made and lawfully accepted, whereby a person of the full 
age required, after the completion of a year of probation, 
binds him- (or her-) self to a particular religious Institute 
approved by the Church." Ram. CaUi. Diet. 
6t- Character; nature. 
And shortte to sal se the pro) 'esaon 
Of every vyne, and wherin thai myscheve 
As counter It by goode discrecion. 
PaUadius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. 8.), p. 63. 
3. Vocation, Business, etc. See occupation. 
professor 
Ills brother. 
Pale from long pulpit studlea, . . . alternating between 
A decent and professional gravity 
And an Irreverent mirthfulneu. 
Whtitifr, Bridal of Pennacook, Int. 
2. Engaged in a profession; being such by pro- 
fession. 
Such marks of confidence must be very gratifying t * 
professional man. DicJmu, Pickwick, IT. 
The economic resistance to militant action, . . . leading 
to ... fixed money payments In place of personal ser- 
vices, results In the growth of a revenue which serves to 
pay profettiuiuil soldiers. 
U. Spencer, Prill, of Soclol., I 520. 
There has been a great upward movement of the pro- 
fessional class. H'. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 202. 
The modern schoolmaster should change his name, for 
he has become a kind of standing orprofettional parent. 
./. R. Seeley, Nat Religion, p. 128. 
3. Undertaken or engaged in for money or as 
a means of subsistence: opposed to amateur: 
said of sports and amusements: as, a profes- 
sional base-ball match ; a professional perform- 
ance of a play Professional education, see edu- 
cation, l. 
II. . 1. One who regularly pursues any pro- 
fession or art. 2. Specifically, a person who 
makes his living by an art, game, or sport in 
which amateurs are accustomed to engage for 
amusement or recreation. The term thus more 
specifically designates professional musicians, actors, I mil 
players, oarsmen, boxers, etc. 
"Try . . . cricket, for Instance. The players generally 
beat the gentlemen, don't they?" " Yes; but they are 
professionals." T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, I. ill. 
professionalism (pro-fesh'on-al-izm), ii. [< 
professional + -ism .] The characteristics, ideas, 
or methods of professional persons; that which 
savors of a professional, especially when so 
marked as to become objectionable or offen- 
sive: specifically used of athletic sports, etc., 
opposed to the methods or work of amateurs. 
We need more manhood and less prqfesnionalism, 
II. W. Beecher, Yale Lectures on Preaching, 1st ser, p. 40. 
I'nifemonalirm In cricket . . . 1s divested of any ob- 
noxious Influences that may surround It In other amuse- 
ments. Philadelphia Times, May 17, 1886. 
professionalist (pro-fesh'on-al-ist), H. [< pro- 
fessional + -is/.] Oiie who practises or belongs 
to some profession; a professional. [Kare.] 
/nip. IHct. 
professionality (pro-fesh-pn-al'i-ti), H. [(pro- 
fessional + -ity.] The state or property of being 
professional; adherence to professional stan- 
dards. [Rare.] 
There Is one characteristic In which It Is well for every 
country to Imitate France : that Is, the honesty and pro- 
fesaonalitu, if I may Invent such a word, of Its work. 
The Century, XXXI. 398. 
professionalize (pro-fesh'on-al-iz), r.; pret. 
and pp. professionalized, ppr. professionalising. 
[< professional + -i:e.] I. trans. To render 
professional. [Rare.] 
They belittle where they should mature, or else they pro- 
fessionalize where they should humanize. 
Andoeer Ren., VII. 1. 
II. intrans. To become professional; behave 
or proceed in a professional manner. [Rare.] 
professionally (pro-fesh'on-al-i), adv. ^pro- 
fessional + -Ty 2 .] 'In a professional manner; 
by or in the wav of one's profession or calling. 
professor (pro-fes'or), n. [= F. professeur = 
8p. profesor = Pg. "professor = It. professore = 
D. G. Sw. Dan. professor, < L. professor, one 
who makes instruction in any branch his busi- 
[>. profes- 
One who 
ness, a public teacher, < proflteri, pp. profes- 
sus, declare publicly: seei>ro/m.] l.Onewho 
professes; one who openly declares or makes 
profession of specific belief or views, of adher- 
ence to a certain course of action or way of 
life, or of knowledge or skill in any particular 
calling. 
Q. Kath. [to Wolsey). Ye turn me into nothing : woe 
upon ye 
And all such false professors! 
Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 1. 115. 
Whereas the more constant and devoted kind of profes- 
sors of any science ought to propound to themselves to 
make some additions to their science, they convert their 
labours to aspire to certain second prizes. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, L 58. 
2. One who makes open profession of religious 
faith and conversion, and attaches himself to 
some religious denomination. This use, probably 
originating among the F.nglish Puritans, is chiefly confined 
to English and Scottish nonconformists and then- descen- 
dants. 
Then the name of a professor was odious. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, it, House of Mnason. 
A mere professor, though a decent one, looks on the Bi- 
ble as a dull book, and pernseth it with such indifference 
as you would read the title-deeds belonging to another 
man's estate. Berridffe. 
