professor
Americannoun
-
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.
-
any teacher who has the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor.
-
a teacher.
-
an instructor in some art or skilled sport.
a professor of singing; a professor of boxing.
-
a person who professes or declares particular sentiments, beliefs, etc.
noun
-
the principal lecturer or teacher in a field of learning at a university or college; a holder of a university chair
-
any teacher in a university or college See also associate professor assistant professor full professor
-
a person who claims skill and instructs others in some sport, occupation, etc
-
a person who professes his opinions, beliefs, etc
Other Word Forms
- nonprofessorial adjective
- nonprofessorially adverb
- professorial adjective
- professorialism noun
- professorially adverb
- pseudoprofessorial adjective
- subprofessor noun
- unprofessorial adjective
- unprofessorially adverb
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Marc Busch, a professor of business diplomacy at Georgetown University, said the ruling could ripple through to trade arrangements the U.S. has struck with other nations.
From MarketWatch
Georgetown University management professor Jason Schloetzer recounted a recent chat with a chief executive who remarked about no longer needing consultants since there was "one in my pocket" thanks to AI.
From Barron's
Jade recalls the time her sister visited her at university and tried to join her for a formal dinner in her halls of residence, only to be embarrassed by a professor.
From BBC
“Sleep naturally varies day to day, but people lose sight of the big picture,” says Zlatan Krizan, a professor of psychology who runs a laboratory that studies sleep and personality at Iowa State University.
“There’s this huge national pride going that has never really stopped,” says Matthew W. Sivils, a professor of English at Iowa State University who has studied Travellers and owns more than 800 tabletop games himself.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
