pro·fessed

[pruh-fest]
adjective
1.
avowed; acknowledged.
2.
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; Middle English (in religious sense) < Medieval Latin profess(us) (special use of Latin professus, past participle of profitērī to declare publicly, equivalent to pro- pro-1 + -fet-, combining form of fatērī to acknowledge + -tus past participle suffix, with tt > ss) + -ed2

half-pro·fessed, adjective
non·pro·fessed, adjective
self-pro·fessed, adjective
un·pro·fessed, adjective
00:10
Professed is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
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pro·fess

[pruh-fes]
verb (used with object)
1.
to lay claim to, often insincerely; pretend to: He professed extreme regret.
2.
to declare openly; announce or affirm; avow or acknowledge: to profess one's satisfaction.
3.
to affirm faith in or allegiance to (a religion, God, etc.).
4.
to declare oneself skilled or expert in; claim to have knowledge of; make (a thing) one's profession or business.
5.
to teach as a professor: She professes comparative literature.
6.
to receive or admit into a religious order.
verb (used without object)
7.
to make a profession, avowal, or declaration.
8.
to take the vows of a religious order.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English; back formation from professed

pre·pro·fess, verb (used with object)
un·pro·fess·ing, adjective


1. claim, allege, purport, avow.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To professed
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World English Dictionary
profess (prəˈfɛs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  to affirm or announce (something, such as faith); acknowledge: to profess ignorance; to profess a belief in God
2.  (tr) to claim (something, such as a feeling or skill, or to be or do something), often insincerely or falsely: to profess to be a skilled driver
3.  to receive or be received into a religious order, as by taking vows
 
[C14: from Latin prōfitērī to confess openly, from pro-1 + fatērī to confess]

professed (prəˈfɛst) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  avowed or acknowledged
2.  alleged or pretended
3.  professing to be qualified as: a professed philosopher
4.  having taken vows of a religious order
 
professedly
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

profess
early 14c., "to take a vow" (in a religious order), from O.Fr. profes, from L. professus "having declared publicly," pp. of profitieri "declare openly," from pro- "forth" + fateri (pp. fassus) "acknowledge, confess." Meaning "declare openly" first recorded 1520s.

professed
"openly declared," 1560s, pp. adj. from profess.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The government's professed target is extremist dogma.
Actual nonprofit work is undertaken by a relatively limited number of people
  who have a professed political investment in it.
No one would want to dampen a network executive's professed optimism.
Most condemn such excesses and have, in the past, generally professed an
  aversion to politics.
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