professer

Forms

professer^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French profession + -er, with the senses of profiteor (“to declare openly, to teach”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The sense “to teach” was formed after professeur, as the Latin verb came to mean “to teach” from its use with a noun of profession, “to declare oneself a physician, a grammarian”.^[2][5] Littré derives it from Latin professus, the past participle of the same verb, as in profès.^[6]

Cognate with Occitan professar, Spanish profesar and Italian professare.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1584, in Jean de Barraud's translation of Guevara's Epistres dorées, in the phrase ennemy juré et professé, meaning “to avow publicly”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb followed the history of profession while drawing on the senses of the Latin verb: “to acknowledge openly” and, from 1681 in Bossuet, “to profess a religion”, a belief or a feeling.^[5][2] The sense “to practise a trade or art” (1636, Monet) has gone out of use.^[5][2][4] After professeur it came to mean “to teach publicly” (1731–1738, Rollin; from 1648 according to Bloch and Wartburg).^[2][5] The transitive professer les mathématiques is now dated, except in sub-Saharan Africa, where enseigner is otherwise used; the intransitive use survives but is less common than enseigner.^[5][7]

An Anglo-Norman verb professer is recorded in England in the first quarter of the 14th century, meaning to admit someone to a religious order, to declare one's faith or to dedicate oneself.^[8]

Timeline

• 1584 – Ennemy juré et professé “a sworn and avowed enemy”.^[2][4]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “to practise a trade”.^[2][4]
• 1681 – Bossuet uses it for professing a religion.^[2][5]
• 1731–1738 – Rollin uses it for teaching publicly.^[2][5]
• 1740 – The Académie records the intransitive use “to teach”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, literary) To declare openly that one holds a belief, opinion or feeling, to profess: Il professait un profond mépris pour l'argent.^{[7][9][10][2]}
2. (transitive) To profess a religion or a political creed: professer le protestantisme.^[4][2]
3. Professer que (with the indicative): to proclaim that.^[7]
4. (dated) To teach a subject as a professor; also intransitive, to teach: Elle professe à l'université de Lyon.^[7][9][10]
5. (obsolete) To practise a trade or an art.^[4][6]

Related words

• profession
• professeur
• profès
• Latin profiteor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)