professing to be qualified; professional, rather than amateur.
3.
having taken the vows of, or been received into, a religious order.
4.
alleged; pretended.
Origin: 1300–50; ME (in religious sense) < ML profess(us) (special use of L professus, ptp. of profitērī to declare publicly, equiv. to pro-pro-1+ -fet-, comb. form of fatērī to acknowledge + -tus ptp. suffix, with tt > ss) + -ed2
pro·fess (prə-fěs', prō-) v.
pro·fessed, pro·fess·ing, pro·fess·es
v.
tr.
To affirm openly; declare or claim: "a physics major [who] professes to be a stickler when it comes to data"(Gina Maranto).
To make a pretense of; pretend: "top officials who were deeply involved with the arms sales but later professed ignorance of them"(David Johnston).
To practice as a profession or claim knowledge of: profess medicine.
To teach (a subject) as a professor: profess literature.
To affirm belief in: profess Catholicism.
To receive into a religious order or congregation.
v.
intr.
To make an open affirmation.
To take the vows of a religious order or congregation.
[Middle English professen, to take vows, from Old French profes, that has taken a religious vow (from Medieval Latin professus, avowed) and from Medieval Latin professāre, to administer a vow, both from Latin professus, past participle of profitērī, to affirm openly : pro-, forth; see pro-1 + fatērī, to acknowledge; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots.] pro·fess'ed·ly (-fěs'ĭd-lē) adv.
[pruh-fest] 
