profess
[pruh-fes]
- to lay claim to, often insincerely; pretend to: He professed extreme regret.
- to declare openly; announce or affirm; avow or acknowledge: to profess one's satisfaction.
- to affirm faith in or allegiance to (a religion, God, etc.).
- to declare oneself skilled or expert in; claim to have knowledge of; make (a thing) one's profession or business.
- to teach as a professor: She professes comparative literature.
- to receive or admit into a religious order.
- to make a profession, avowal, or declaration.
- to take the vows of a religious order.
Origin of profess
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com1. claim, allege, purport, avow.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for professing
Contemporary Examples
She writes of being “ashamed” of disavowing feminism, professing ignorance of its meaning and mission.
Marco Rubio did his best Barack Obama impression Thursday, professing his profound belief in the American Dream.
WATCH VIDEO: Must-See Moments from the Republican National ConventionThe Daily Beast Video
August 31, 2012
But this handsome, media-friendly president is constantly discoursing and professing.
I am afraid of what you people can create,” professing concern “that some nut is going to be stirred up.
Historical Examples
If a man 'will' make a book, professing to discuss a single question, an encyclopaedia, I cannot help it.
Critias returns to his story, professing only to repeat what Solon was told by the priests.
CritiasPlato
He departed, professing over and over again his deathless gratitude.
Fair HarborJoseph Crosby Lincoln
So Jim wrote, professing to find material gain in the affair.
Kent Knowles: QuahaugJoseph C. Lincoln
Lefever, professing he would not drink alone, called for cigarettes.
Nan of Music MountainFrank H. Spearman
profess
- to affirm or announce (something, such as faith); acknowledgeto profess ignorance; to profess a belief in God
- (tr) to claim (something, such as a feeling or skill, or to be or do something), often insincerely or falselyto profess to be a skilled driver
- to receive or be received into a religious order, as by taking vows
Word Origin
C14: from Latin prōfitērī to confess openly, from pro- 1 + fatērī to confess
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for professing
profess
v.
early 14c., "to take a vow" (in a religious order), a back-formation from profession or else from Old French profes, from Medieval Latin professus "avowed," literally "having declared publicly," past participle of Latin profiteri "declare openly, testify voluntarily, acknowledge, make public statement of," from pro- "forth" (see pro-) + fateri (past participle fassus) "acknowledge, confess," akin to fari "speak" (see fame (n.)). Meaning "declare openly" first recorded 1520s, "a direct borrowing of the sense from Latin" [Barnhart]. Related: Professed; professing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper