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Webster 1913 Edition

Profession

Pro-fes′sion

,
Noun.
[F., fr. L.
professio
. See
Profess
,
Verb.
]
1.
The act of professing or claiming; open declaration; public avowal or acknowledgment;
as,
professions
of friendship; a
profession
of faith.
A solemn vow, promise, and
profession
.
Bk. of Com. Prayer.
2.
That which one professed; a declaration; an avowal; a claim;
as, his
professions
are insincere
.
The Indians quickly perceive the coincidence or the contradiction between
professions
and conduct.
J. Morse.
3.
That of which one professed knowledge; the occupation, if not mechanical, agricultural, or the like, to which one devotes one’s self; the business which one professes to understand, and to follow for subsistence; calling; vocation; employment;
as, the
profession
of arms; the
profession
of a clergyman, lawyer, or physician; the
profession
of lecturer on chemistry.
Hi tried five or six
professions
in turn.
Macaulay.
☞ The three professions, or learned professions, are, especially, theology, law, and medicine.
4.
The collective body of persons engaged in a calling;
as, the
profession
distrust him
.
5.
(Eccl. Law.)
The act of entering, or becoming a member of, a religious order.

Webster 1828 Edition

Profession

PROFES'SION

,
Noun.
[L. professio.]
1.
Open declaration; public avowal or acknowledgment of one's sentiments or belief; as professions of friendship or sincerity; a profession of faith or religion.
The professions of princes,when a crown is the bait, are a slender security.
The Indians quickly perceive the coincidence or the contradiction between professions and conduct, and their confidence or distrust follows of course.
2.
The business which one professes to understand and to follow for subsistence; calling; vocation; employment; as the learned professions. We speak of the profession of a clergyman, of a lawyer, and of a physician or surgeon; the profession of lecturer on chimistry or mineralogy. But the word is not applied to an occupation merely mechanical.
3.
The collective body of persons engaged in a calling. We speak of practices honorable or disgraceful to a profession.
4.
Among the Romanists,the entering into a religious order, by which a person offers himself to God by a vow of inviolable obedience, chastity and poverty.

Definition 2024

Profession

Profession

See also: profession

German

Noun

Profession f ‎(genitive Profession, plural Professionen)

  1. profession

Declension

Related terms

profession

profession

See also: Profession

English

Noun

profession ‎(plural professions)

  1. A promise or vow made on entering a religious order.
    She died only a few years after her profession.
    • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, p. 27:
      Rosario was a young novice belonging to the monastery, who in three months intended to make his profession.
  2. A declaration of belief, faith or of one's opinion.
    Despite his continued professions of innocence, the court eventually sentenced him to five years.
  3. An occupation, trade, craft, or activity in which one has a professed expertise in a particular area; a job, especially one requiring a high level of skill or training.
    My father was a barrister by profession.
  4. The practitioners of such an occupation collectively.
    His conduct is against the established practices of the legal profession.

Derived terms

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin professiō, professiōnem.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pʁɔ.fɛ.sjɔ̃/

Noun

profession f ‎(plural professions)

  1. profession, public declaration
    Toute profession d'incrédulité (...) sera poursuivie comme outrage à la religion et scandale pour les mœurs. (Proudhon, Révol. soc., 1852)
    1. profession, public declaration of faith
      D'une voix altérée, il prononça la profession de foi musulmane, comme pour se prémunir contre une tentation qu'il redoutait sans pouvoir la préciser. (Du Camp, Nil, 1854)
  2. profession, occupation, trade, craft, activity
    une profession lucrative.
  3. profession, practitioners of a profession collectively
    Ces décisions s'imposent à toute la profession, elles ne sont exécutoires qu'après approbation par le ministre.

Derived terms

Related terms

References

Old French

Alternative forms

  • professioun (Anglo-Norman)
  • professiun (Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin profession.

Noun

profession f ‎(oblique plural professions, nominative singular profession, nominative plural professions)

  1. profession; declaration (usually of faith)

References

  • (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (profession, supplement)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman professioun, Old French profession ‎(“declaration of faith, religious vows, occupation”), from Latin professiō ‎(“avowal, public declaration”), from the participle stem of profitērī ‎(“to profess”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pɹəˈfɛʃən/

Similar Results