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

Example Sentences

Sergey Radchenko, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, recalled how before the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine senior Russian strategists frequently talked of using security presence in Venezuela as a pressure point against the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal

New research led by Paul Byrne, an associate professor of Earth, environmental, and planetary sciences, challenges one of the central hopes surrounding Europa.

From Science Daily

"Understanding galaxy clusters is the key to understanding the biggest galaxies in the universe," said Dr. Chapman, who is also a UBC affiliate professor.

From Science Daily

Emilie Feldman, a management professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said spinning off a business unit is more complicated than selling one, but can offer tax advantages.

From The Wall Street Journal

Others were engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab and professors at Caltech and teachers and artists and plumbers and everyday commuters to downtown Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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