professor
/pɹəˈfɛs.ə//pɹəˈfɛs.ɚ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
professor noun: the most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
Noun (1)
professor (plural professors)
- The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
- Professor is what you become after teaching for twenty to thirty years.2014 November 22, Michel Clasquin-Johnson, “What is the difference between a research professor and a professor”, in Quora
- A teacher or faculty member at a college or university regardless of formal rank.
- One who professes something, such as a religious doctrine.
- […] I alvvayes thought / It vvas both impious and vnnaturall, / That ſuch immanity and bloody ſtrife / Should reigne among Profeſſors of one Faith.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- As for Religion, I have not said, much lesse meant irreverently of it, or of the Professors thereof.1660, William Petty, Reflections upon some Persons and Things in Ireland, page 170, column 1
- A practitioner, one who (publicly) practises or teaches an art or skill.
- Two young men of familiar acquaintance … were one euening at a common Inne of this town (as I haue heard) where the one of them shewed his skill on the Virginals, to the no little contentement of the hearers. Nowe as diuers guests of the house came into the room to listen, so among the rest entered...1592, Robert Green, The Thirde & Last Part of Conny-catching, Bodleian Library (Malone 575), London: John Lane. Reprinted in 1923, Harrison, G. B. (ed.), The Bodley Head Quartos III, Plainstow, Great...
- A pianist in a saloon, brothel, etc.
- You could hear […] pianos under the hands of whorehouse professors sounding like they came with keys between the keys.2006, Thomas Pynchon, “(please specify the page)”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN
- The puppeteer who performs a Punch and Judy show; a Punchman.
Noun (2) capitalized: Professor
Professor (plural Professors)
- The title for someone who holds the job of professor.
- A mock title for a person seen as pedantic or obsessive on a topic.
- This is just what I wanted. I got professor environment pants over here, and I can't get my jetski started. How am I gonna get back?2022 July 14, Charlie Berens and You Betcha, Kayak Vs Jetski
professor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
professor in Hindi
- higher ranking for a teacher or faculty member at a college or university
- प्रोफ़ेसर profesar, प्राध्यापक prādhyāpak
professor in Tamil
- பேராசிரியர்
professor in Marathi
- higher ranking for a teacher or faculty member at a college or university
- प्रोफेसर prophesar
professor in Urdu
- higher ranking for a teacher or faculty member at a college or university
- پروفیسر profesar, پرادھیاپک prādhyāpak
More languagesFewer languages
- professor in Bengali
- উপাধ্যায় upaddhaẏ
- professor in Telugu
- ప్రొఫెసర్
- professor in Malayalam
- സ്വീകരിക്കുന്നവൻ, അധ്യാപകൻ, ആചാര്യൻ, പഠനവകുപ്പിൻറെ തലവൻ
- professor in Kannada
- ಪೆರ್ಕಲಿಸುಗ, ಮೇಲ್ಕಲಿಸುಗ, ಅಧ್ಯಾಪಕ, ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕ
- professor in Punjabi
- ਪ੍ਰੋਫੈਸਰ
- professor in Gujarati
- પ્રોફેસર
- professor in Odia
- ପ୍ରଫେସର୍ praphesar
- professor in Nepali
- प्रोफेसर, प्राध्यापक
- professor in Pashto
- پوهاند pohānd
- professor in Tagalog
- propesor, dalubguro, Dgro.
- professor in Arabic
- أُسْتَاذ ʔustāḏ, مُعَلِّم muʕallim
- professor in Malay
- mahaguru
- professor in Persian
- استاد ostâd, پروفسور profesor
- professor in Thai
- ศาสตราจารย์ sàat-dtraa-jaan
- professor in Vietnamese
- giáo sư
- professor in Myanmar
- ပါမောက္ခ pamaukhka.
Examples of professor in a sentence
- The professor stopped her lecture abruptly when she noticed someone fall off their seat.
- The professor seemed offended by the criticism of her pet theory.
- The professor failed me because I did not complete any of the course assignments.
Synonyms of professor
Forms of professor
| plural | professors |
|---|---|
| plural | Professors |
| alternative abbreviation | Prof. |
| alternative form (archaic) | professour |
Origin of professor
From Middle English professor, professour, from Anglo-Norman proffessur and its etymon Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”), from the past participle stem of profiteor (“profess”). By surface analysis, profess + -or.
Words formed from professor
- absent-minded professor
- adjunct professor
- assistant professor
- associate professor
- brofessor
- distinguished professor
- extraordinary professor
- full professor
- institute professor
- James B. Duke professor
- little professor
- mad professor
- nonprofessor
- president's professor
- professorate
- professordom
- professoress
- professoriat
- professoriate
- professorine
- professoring
- professorish
- professorless
- professorlike
- professorling
- professorly
- professor ordinarius
- Professor's Cube
- professorship
- regents' professor
- regents professor
- research professor
- Sterling professor
- subprofessor
- university professor
- visiting professor
Phrases with professor
Words that rhyme with professor
Questions about professor
- What does professor mean?
- Professor means the most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
- What is professor in Hindi?
- Professor in Hindi is प्रोफ़ेसर (profesar), प्राध्यापक (prādhyāpak). See Professor meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is professor?
- Professor is a noun.
- How do you pronounce professor?
- Professor is pronounced /pɹəˈfɛs.ə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of professor?
- The plural of professor is professors.
Words near professor in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: professor (page history and authors); Professor (page history and authors); professor (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); উপাধ্যায় (Bengali) (page history and authors); professor (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); professor (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); professor (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); professor (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); professor (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ପ୍ରଫେସର୍ (Odia) (page history and authors); professor (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-professor.ogg, en-us-professor.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-professor.wav.
Cite this entry: “professor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/professor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.