# professor

Pronunciation: US say "pruh-FES-ur" /pɹəˈfɛsɚ/; UK say "pruh-FES-uh" /pɹəˈfɛsə/

## Noun

1. A college or university teacher of high academic rank: the top rank in Britain and many other countries, any of the assistant, associate or full ranks in the US.
   - Simple: A college or university teacher of high rank. In the US, students call almost any college teacher this.
   - _In American schools, students call almost any college instructor their professor, even a part-time lecturer._
   - _She thanked her professor after the seminar and asked about the next reading._

## Noun

2. A person who openly declares belief in something, such as a religious doctrine. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A person who openly says they believe in something, especially a religion or teaching.
   - _As a professor of the new religion, he refused to renounce his beliefs before the court._
   - _The professors of the reformed creed were persecuted for their open declarations._
3. A practitioner who publicly performs or teaches an art or skill. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person who publicly practices or teaches an art or skill.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A pianist employed in a saloon, brothel, or similar establishment.
- (noun) The puppeteer who performs a Punch and Judy show.

## Origin

Latin profiteor ('to profess') had a past participle stem that gave professor, a 'declarer' or 'person who claims knowledge'; English took the word from Anglo-Norman proffessur.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/professor (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).