profess meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

profess

verb

UK /pɹəˈfɛs/

Etymology From Old French professer, and its source, the participle stem of Latin profitērī, from pro- + fatērī (“to confess, acknowledge”).

7 senses

To administer the vows of a religious order to (someone); to admit to a religious order.

Chiefly passive voice

This swayed the balance decisively in Mary's favour, and she was professed on 8 September 1578.2000, Butler's Lives of the Saints, page 118:

To declare oneself (to be something).

They've professed themselves delighted with the results.
Kiefer professes himself amused by the fuss that ensued when he announced that he was buying the Mülheim-Kärlich reactor[…].2011 December 9, Alex Needham, “Anselm Kiefer: ‘Art is difficult, it's not entertainment’”, in The Guardian:

Ambitransitive To declare; to assert, affirm.

Having professed her belief in the remedy, she had little choice but to try it.
He professes to haue receiued no sinister measure from his Iudge, but most willingly humbles himselfe to the determination of Iustice[…].c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

4 more examples

The best and wisest of them all professed / To know this only, that he nothing knew.1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
The guard was paying no attention whatever to the running of his train, in total disregard of rules, and, as the recently-published report of a Ministry of Transport Inspecting Officer of Railways shows, there were other disquieting features in the case, such as ignorance on the part of responsible men of rules and appendix instructions and a lax attitude to regulations of which they professed to be aware, combined with failure to look at staff notice boards.1956 September, “Notes and News: The Barby Sidings Accident Report”, in Railway Magazine, page 638:
The Governor immediately professed that he knew nothing about the incident.1974 February 11, “The Kansas Kickbacks”, in Time:
WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected,[…]. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:

To make a claim (to be something); to lay claim to (a given quality, feeling etc.), often with connotations of insincerity.

Many profess to despise what secretly they hunger after.
Ed Miliband professed ignorance of the comment when he was approached by the BBC later.2010 September 28, Hélène Mulholland, “David Miliband voices displeasure during Labour leader's speech”, in The Guardian:

1 more example

Caution needs to be exercised in regards to claims of coinage as the data contained a number of examples of writers professing the invention of a term that had actually been in existence for many years.2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 13:

To declare one's adherence to (a religion, deity, principle etc.).

[N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 40:
The remainder of the population, about two-thirds, belongs to the Mongolian race and professes Buddhism.1983, Alexander Mcleish, The Frontier Peoples of India, Mittal Publications, published 1984, page 122:

To work as a professor of; to teach.

he was a Spaniard, who about two hundred yeeres since professed Physicke in Tholouse[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

Archaic To claim to have knowledge or understanding of (a given area of interest, subject matter).