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Definition of profession - 5 dictionary results

pro⋅fes⋅sion

  [pruh-fesh-uhn]
Use profession in a Sentence
–noun
1. a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science: the profession of teaching. Compare learned profession.
2. any vocation or business.
3. the body of persons engaged in an occupation or calling: to be respected by the medical profession.
4. the act of professing; avowal; a declaration, whether true or false: professions of dedication.
5. the declaration of belief in or acceptance of religion or a faith: the profession of Christianity.
6. a religion or faith professed.
7. the declaration made on entering into membership of a church or religious order.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME < ML professiōn- (s. of professiō) the taking of the vows of a religious order. See professed, -ion

Related forms:
pro⋅fes⋅sion⋅less, noun

Synonyms:
1. calling, employment. See occupation. 4. asseveration, assertion, protestation.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pro·fes·sion   (prə-fěsh'ən)   
n.  
    1. An occupation or career: "One of the highest compliments a child can pay a parent is to choose his or her profession" (Joan Nathan).
    2. An occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires considerable training and specialized study.
    3. The body of qualified persons in an occupation or field: members of the teaching profession.
  2. An act or instance of professing; a declaration.
  3. An avowal of faith or belief.
  4. A faith or belief: believers of various professions.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Profession

Pro*fes"sion\, n. [F., fr. L. professio. See Profess, v.]

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.

Note: 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's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : profession
Spanish: profesión,
German: der Beruf,
Japanese: 専門職
More Translations »

profession 
c.1225, "vows taken upon entering a religious order," from O.Fr. profession, from L. professionem (nom. professio) "public declaration," from professus (see profess). Meaning "occupation one professes to be skilled in" is from 1541; meaning "body of persons engaged in some occupation" is from 1610; as a euphemism for "prostitution" (e.g. oldest profession) it is recorded from 1888. Professional (adj.) is first recorded 1747 with sense of "pertaining to a profession;" 1884 as opposite of amateur. As a noun, it is attested from 1811. Professionalism is from 1856.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: pro·fes·sion
Pronunciation: pr&-'fesh-&n
Function: noun
1 : a calling requiring specialized knowledge and oftenlong and intensive academic preparation
2 : the whole body of persons engaged in a calling
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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