professor

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /prəˈfes.ə/, US /prəˈfes.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English professour,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French professeur,^[2][3] and directly borrowed from Latin professor (“one who professes to be expert in an art or science; teacher of the highest rank”),^[2][3] an agent noun from profitērī (“to lay claim to, declare openly”),^[2][3][4] the source of profess.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who teaches a branch of knowledge: 1387 in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon,^[3] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2] The OED's first example of a public teacher of the highest rank in a university is from about 1380.^[5] In Late Latin a professor was also one who professes Christianity.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Alongside the teacher, Middle English had the professor as a professed member of a religious order (about 1420),^[5] and one who openly declares his beliefs in 1538.^[5] One who openly professes religion, a professing Christian, may be a Puritan revival of the 15th-century use;^[2] the OED traces it to the 1530s, and it is now chiefly Scottish and American,^[5][2] as in the dialect of Scotland, Lancashire and Cornwall, where it meant one who claims an uncommon religious fervour.^[6] As a title before a name it is from 1706,^[2][5] and the short form prof from 1838.^[2] In the US it has also been used loosely of a schoolmaster or tutor (1903).^[5] Professorial is from 1713, in Richard Bentley.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – a university teacher of the highest rank.^[5]
• 1387 – a teacher of a branch of knowledge.^[3]
• c. 1420 – a professed member of a religious order.^[5]
• 1538 – one who openly declares his beliefs.^[5]
• 1706 – as a title.^[2][5]
• 1713 – professorial.^[3]
• 1838 – prof.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A teacher of the highest rank at a university or college.
2. Any teacher or instructor.
3. One who professes or declares a belief, especially a religion.

Word family

• professorial
• professorially
• professorship
• professorialism
• professorate
• professoriat
• professoriate
• subprofessor

Related words

• regius professor
• profess
• profession
• professional
• prof
• confess

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)