professor

American  

[pruh-fes-er] / prəˈfɛs ər /

noun

• professors
  plural

1. a teacher of the highest academic rank in a college or university, who has been awarded the title Professor in a particular branch of learning; a full professor.

   a professor of Spanish literature.

2. any teacher who has the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor.

3. a teacher.

4. an instructor in some art or skilled sport.

   a professor of singing; a professor of boxing.

5. a person who professes or declares particular sentiments, beliefs, etc.

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professor British  

/ prəˈfɛsə /

noun

1. the principal lecturer or teacher in a field of learning at a university or college; a holder of a university chair

2. any teacher in a university or college See also associate professor assistant professor full professor

3. a person who claims skill and instructs others in some sport, occupation, etc

4. a person who professes his opinions, beliefs, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• professorialism
  noun
• subprofessor
  noun
• nonprofessorial
  adjective
• professorial
  adjective
• pseudoprofessorial
  adjective
• unprofessorial
  adjective
• nonprofessorially
  adverb
• professorially
  adverb
• unprofessorially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• professors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of professor

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English from Medieval Latin prōfessor “one who has taken the vows of a religious order,” Latin: “a public lecturer,” equivalent to prō- pro- ¹ + -fet-, combining form of fatērī “to acknowledge, declare” + -tor -tor, with tt becoming ss

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Explanation

A professor is someone who teaches at a college or university. Professor is officially a teacher of the highest rank, above adjuncts and lecturers, but college students can call them all professor. The Latin origin of the word means “declare publicly,” and professors are responsible for publicly sharing their knowledge with the world, or at least with whoever can afford to pay them for lessons. Although anyone teaching college can be called a professor, it’s really a title that has to be earned by going to graduate school and moving up by being an assistant professor, then associate professor, and finally a full professor.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

professor professors

Researchers led by Martin Fussenegger, a professor in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, have developed an implant designed to address this problem differently.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026

The electorate is volatile, said Sonoma State University political science professor David McCuan, and there are always wild cards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

“You’d see twice as many stars in the sky,” said Hanno Rein, an associate professor at the University of Toronto who has modeled light pollution from planned satellite constellations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Dr Nicola Stock is an associate professor whose work focuses on the psychological impact of appearance-altering conditions such as a cleft lip.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026

I wait until he’s out of sight before crossing the street, wondering why the professor seemed so strange, and who he was visiting.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

Ms. Corn recalls that in the 1960s one of her graduate professors, H.W.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

For example, a 2008 study of equity analysts by Harvard professors found that those analysts’ performance dropped when they moved firms, and didn’t return to its previous level for more than two years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Various groups, including university professors, artists and opposition parties, have announced their support or attendance.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

The ten-member research team was led by Peter Dodds and Chris Danforth, professors in UVM's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

Her parents didn't see the way Valley snapped at their professors and didn’t seem to care about her schoolwork or how she was always on her own doing sneaky, probably terrible, things.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

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Related Words

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