professor

American  

[pruh-fes-er] / prəˈfɛs ər /

noun

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, ˌprɒfɪˈsɔːrɪəl /

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

• 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

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

"By sharing energy reserves, satellite glial cells may help keep neurons out of pain," said Ji, a professor of anesthesiology, neurobiology and cell biology at Duke School of Medicine.

From Science Daily • May 24, 2026

Yesha Yadav, a law professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, explained that prediction markets used to be much more similar to opinion polling than gambling.

From Salon • May 24, 2026

It’s not necessarily the case that the tank would explode at 101 degrees, said Elias Picazo, assistant professor of chemistry at USC.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026

"A year in orbit pushes both hardware and humans into a different operational regime compared with the shorter Shenzhou missions of the programme's earlier phases," the professor of physics and astronomy told AFP.

From Barron's • May 23, 2026

Born at Castelnuovo, near Naples, on 28 January 1608, Borelli studied mathematics in Rome and became professor of mathematics at Messina some time before 1640, although the exact date is not known.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Related Words

• assistant
• educator
• faculty member
• fellow
• instructor
• lecturer
• principal
• teacher
• tutor