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, 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

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

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

"Tehran views these two states as the most accessible and lower-cost pressure points in the Gulf," said Hamad Althunayyan, an assistant professor of political science at Kuwait University.

From Barron's • Jul. 8, 2026

Dr Odile Harrison, associate professor at the University of Oxford's Population Health Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit said the results were "disappointing" but should not be seen as the end of a search for a vaccine.

From BBC • Jul. 8, 2026

A professor recounts the experiences of the school’s Jews after the Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 8, 2026

As mentioned here before, data from Dartmouth finance professor Ken French shows that going all the way back to 1926, energy stocks have actually outperformed — if slightly — the broader U.S. stock-market index.

From MarketWatch • Jul. 8, 2026

“She’s a professor of advanced computing and mathematical sciences at Cal Tech. I hacked into her laptop so that it gave her a special greeting on her birthday.”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Related Words

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