Etymologically
Log in

professeur

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 09:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/[1]
  • IPA: /pʁɔ.fe.sœʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec): [pχɔfɛsɑœ̯ɹ][1]

Forms

professeur m (plural professeurs, feminine professeure or professeuse)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin professor (“one who professes an art or science; teacher”), from profiteor (“to declare publicly; to teach publicly”), from prō- and fateor (“to confess, acknowledge”).[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document of 1337 has proffesseur en loys, a teacher of law, Lanfranc's surgery (14th century) speaks of professeurs de cest art.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Furetière (1690) records the teacher in an established school, and the title has been used for a university chair-holder.[7][3] La Fontaine (1668) has it figuratively.[7] The clipped form prof is familiar.[8]

For a woman the masculine was long the only form in Europe (attested 1846), forms such as professeuse or professoresse never catching on; the feminine professeure, standard in Quebec, is spreading in Europe.[3][5][1]

Timeline

  • 1337 – Proffesseur en loys.[2]
  • 1668 – Figurative use, La Fontaine.[7]
  • 1685 – The derivative professorat.[4]
  • 1846 – Used of a woman.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A teacher (at a secondary school): professeur de mathématiques, professeur de piano.[8][1]
  2. A professor (at a university).[1][3]

Word family

  • professoral
  • professorat
  • prof

Usage notes

The feminine is professeure (standard in Quebec, now also common in France), or the masculine form used of a woman: elle est professeur.[3][8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert