professor

[pruh-fes-er]

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.

professor

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of professor¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of professor¹

C14: from Medieval Latin: one who has made his profession in a religious order, from Latin: a public teacher; see _profess

Example Sentences

According to Hery Ramiarison, professor of economics at the University of Antananarivo, these are the result of decades of poor economic planning and the government's failure to create inclusive wealth.

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Virginia Minni is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some founders may feel, “I am indispensable, and I don’t want to give my baby to one person,” said Ranjay Gulati, a professor at Harvard Business School who has studied leadership transitions among startup CEOs.

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“We’ve seen this proliferation of expenses essentially happening in the background,” said Wendy De La Rosa, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school.

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“Exit barriers are a key reason for India’s underdeveloped manufacturing sector,” said Shoumitro Chatterjee, co-author of a new paper on Indian manufacturing and an assistant professor of international economics at Johns Hopkins University.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• assistant 
• educator 
• faculty member www.thesaurus.com
• fellow 
• instructor 
• lecturer 
• principal 
• teacher 
• tutor