professor

See also: prófessor and Professor

English

Alternative forms

• professour (archaic)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman proffessur, from Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”), from the past participle stem of profiteor (“profess”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈfɛsə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈfɛsɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsə(ɹ)

Noun

professor (plural professors)

2. The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.

   Synonyms: prof, Prof.

   • 2014 November 22, Michel Clasquin-Johnson, “What is the difference between a research professor and a professor”, in Quora‎^[1]:

     Professor is what you become after teaching for twenty to thirty years.

3. (US, Philippines, informal) A teacher or faculty member at a college or university regardless of formal rank.
4. (archaic) One who professes something, such as a religious doctrine.
   • 1660, William Petty, Reflections upon some Persons and Things in Ireland, p. 170/1:

     As for Religion, I have not said, much lesse meant irreverently of it, or of the Professors thereof.

   • 1897, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (transl.) The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Introduction, p. v:

     This period in which Abraham the Jew lived was one in which Magic was almost universally believed in, and in which its Professors were held in honour;

5. (US, slang) A pianist in a saloon, brothel, etc.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 415:

     You could hear [...] pianos under the hands of whorehouse professors sounding like they came with keys between the keys.

6. The puppeteer who performs a Punch and Judy show; a Punchman.

Derived terms

• absent-minded professor
• adjunct professor
• assistant professor
• associate professor
• distinguished professor
• extraordinary professor
• full professor
• institute professor
• James B. Duke professor
• little professor
• mad professor
• president's professor
• professorial
• professoriate
• professorly
• professor ordinarius
• professorship
• regents' professor
• regents professor
• Regius professor
• regius professor
• research professor
• Sterling professor
• university professor
• visiting professor

 

Descendants

• → Niuean: palōfesa

Translations

a higher ranking for a teacher or faculty member at a college or university

• Afrikaans: professor (af)
• Amharic: ፕሮፌሰር (pərofesär)
• Arabic: أُسْتَاذ (ar) m (ʔustāḏ), (teacher) مُعَلِّم (ar) m (muʕallim)

  Egyptian Arabic: بروفيسور m (brofesōr), بروفيسورة f (brofesōra), دكتور m (duktor), دكتورة f (duktora)

• Armenian: պրոֆեսոր (hy) (profesor)
• Asturian: profesor (ast) m, profesora (ast) f
• Aymara: yatichiri
• Azerbaijani: professor (az)
• Basque: irakasle (eu)
• Belarusian: прафе́сар m (prafjésar)
• Breton: kelenner (br) m, kelennerez (br) f
• Bulgarian: профе́сор m (profésor)
• Burmese: ပါမောက္ခ (my) (pamaukhka.)
• Catalan: professor (ca) m, professora (ca) f
• Chickasaw: pofessa'
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 教授 (zh) (jiàoshòu), (teacher) 老師／老师 (zh) (lǎoshī)

• Czech: profesor (cs) m
• Danish: professor c
• Dutch: hoogleraar (nl) m, professor (nl) m or f, prof (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: profesoro
• Fijian: parofesa
• Finnish: professori (fi)
• French: professeur (fr) m, professeure (fr) f, prof (fr) m or f, professeuse (fr) f
• Galician: profesor (gl) m, profesora f
• Georgian: პროფესორი (ṗropesori)
• German: Professor (de) m, Professorin (de) f, Professorsgattin f (professor's wife), Prof. (de) m or f (abbrev.), Prof (de) m or f (colloquial short form), Hochschulprofessor m, Hochschulprofessorin f, Hochschullehrer (de) m, Hochschullehrerin (de) f
• Greek: καθηγητής (el) m (kathigitís), καθηγήτρια (el) f (kathigítria)
• Hawaiian: polopeka
• Hebrew: פְּרוֹפֶסוֹר (he) m (profésor), פְּרוֹפֶסוֹרִית f (profesorít), פרופ׳ (prof.) (abbrev.)
• Hindi: प्रोफ़ेसर m (profesar), प्राध्यापक (hi) m (prādhyāpak)
• Hungarian: professzor (hu)
• Icelandic: prófessor m, háskólakennari m
• Interlingua: professor
• Irish: ollamh m
• Italian: professore (it) m
• Japanese: 教授 (ja) (きょうじゅ, kyōju), (teacher) 先生 (ja) (せんせい, sensei)
• Javanese: guru ageng, profesor
• Khmer: សាស្ត្រចារ្យ (saahstraacaa), លោកគ្រូ (look kruu)
• Korean: 교수(敎授) (ko) (gyosu), (teacher) 선생(先生) (ko) (seonsaeng)
• Lao: ສາດສະດາຈານ (lo) (sāt sa dā chān), ອາຈານ (ʼā chān)
• Latin: professor m
• Latvian: profesors m
• Lithuanian: profesorius m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Professer m, Professerin f, Professersch f, Professersche f, Professorin (nds) f, Professoorsch f, Professoorsche f

• Macedonian: професор m (profesor), професорка f (profesorka)
• Malay: mahaguru
• Maltese: professur m
• Maori: ahorangi, toihuarewa
• Marathi: प्रोफेसर m (prophesar)
• Pashto: پوهاند (ps) m (pohānd)
• Persian: استاد (fa) (ostâd), پروفسور (fa) (profesor)
• Polish: profesor (pl) m, profesorka (pl)
• Portuguese: professor (pt) m, professora (pt) f
• Romanian: profesor (ro) m, profesoară (ro) f
• Russian: профе́ссор (ru) m (proféssor)
• Samoan: polofesa
• Scottish Gaelic: (head of department) àrd-ollamh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: про̀фесор m

  Roman: pròfesor (sh) m, profesòrica (sh) f

• Sicilian: prufissuri (scn) m
• Slovak: profesor m
• Slovene: profesor (sl) m, profesorica f
• Somali: barfasoor
• Spanish: profesor (es) m, profesora (es) f
• Sundanese: profesor
• Swahili: profesa
• Swedish: lärare (sv) m, lärarinna (sv) f, lektor (sv) c, adjunkt (sv) c, föreläsare (sv) c, professor (sv) c, professorska (sv) c (professor's wife)
• Tagalog: propesor, dalubguro, Dgro.
• Tajik: олим (olim)
• Thai: ศาสตราจารย์ (th) (sàat-dtraa-jaan)
• Tongan: palofesa, palōfesa
• Turkish: profesör (tr), hoca (tr)
• Ukrainian: профе́сор (uk) m (profésor)
• Urdu: پروفیسر m (profesar), پرادھیاپک m (prādhyāpak)
• Uyghur: پروفېسسور (profëssor)
• Venetian: profesor (vec) m
• Vietnamese: giáo sư (vi) (教師)
• Volapük: (♂♀) profäsoran (vo)
• Welsh: proffeswr m
• Yakut: бэрэпиэссэр (berepiesser)
• Yiddish: פּראָפֿעסאָר m (profesor), פּראָפֿעסאָרין f (profesorin), פּראָפֿעסאָרקע f (profesorke), פּראָפֿ׳ m or f (prof') (abbrev.)

a teacher or faculty member at a college or university, regardless of formal rank

• Afrikaans: dosent
• Bulgarian: преподавател (bg) m (prepodavatel)
• Hungarian: kinevezett tanár/előadó/oktató

one who professes (a faith or religion)

• Bulgarian: изповядващ (bg) m (izpovjadvašt)
• German: Bekenner (de) m, Bekennerin f
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} hitvalló (hu)

Azerbaijani

Other scripts

Cyrillic		профессор
Abjad		پروفئسسور

Etymology

Internationalism; ultimately from Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

professor (definite accusative professoru, plural professorlar)

1. professor

Declension

Declension of professor
	singular	plural
nominative	professor	professorlar
definite accusative	professoru	professorları
dative	professora	professorlara
locative	professorda	professorlarda
ablative	professordan	professorlardan
definite genitive	professorun	professorların

Possessive forms of professor
	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	professorum	professorlarım
sənin (“your”)	professorun	professorların
onun (“his/her/its”)	professoru	professorları
bizim (“our”)	professorumuz	professorlarımız
sizin (“your”)	professorunuz	professorlarınız
onların (“their”)	professoru or professorları	professorları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	professorumu	professorlarımı
sənin (“your”)	professorunu	professorlarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	professorunu	professorlarını
bizim (“our”)	professorumuzu	professorlarımızı
sizin (“your”)	professorunuzu	professorlarınızı
onların (“their”)	professorunu or professorlarını	professorlarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	professoruma	professorlarıma
sənin (“your”)	professoruna	professorlarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	professoruna	professorlarına
bizim (“our”)	professorumuza	professorlarımıza
sizin (“your”)	professorunuza	professorlarınıza
onların (“their”)	professoruna or professorlarına	professorlarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	professorumda	professorlarımda
sənin (“your”)	professorunda	professorlarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	professorunda	professorlarında
bizim (“our”)	professorumuzda	professorlarımızda
sizin (“your”)	professorunuzda	professorlarınızda
onların (“their”)	professorunda or professorlarında	professorlarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	professorumdan	professorlarımdan
sənin (“your”)	professorundan	professorlarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	professorundan	professorlarından
bizim (“our”)	professorumuzdan	professorlarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	professorunuzdan	professorlarınızdan
onların (“their”)	professorundan or professorlarından	professorlarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	professorumun	professorlarımın
sənin (“your”)	professorunun	professorlarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	professorunun	professorlarının
bizim (“our”)	professorumuzun	professorlarımızın
sizin (“your”)	professorunuzun	professorlarınızın
onların (“their”)	professorunun or professorlarının	professorlarının

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin professōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [pɾu.fəˈso]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pɾo.fəˈso]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [pɾo.feˈsoɾ]

Noun

professor m (plural professors, feminine professora)

1. professor
2. teacher

   Synonyms: mestre, ensenyant

3. (music) musician (in an orchestra)

Derived terms

• professorat

Related terms

• professar
• professió

Further reading

• “professor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “professor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “professor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “professor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Noun

professor c (singular definite professoren, plural indefinite professorer)

1. professor

Declension

Declension of professor

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	professor	professoren	professorer	professorerne
genitive	professors	professorens	professorers	professorernes

Further reading

• “professor” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch professoor, from Latin professor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌproːˈfɛ.sɔr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pro‧fes‧sor

Noun

professor m (plural professoren or professors, diminutive professortje n)

1. professor

   Dr. Van Der Meulen is een gerespecteerde professor aan de Universiteit van Utrecht. ― Dr. Van Der Meulen is a respected professor at Utrecht University.

   De professor heeft zijn nieuwste onderzoek gepubliceerd in een internationaal tijdschrift. ― The professor published his latest research in an international journal.

   De professor is gespecialiseerd in moleculaire biologie. ― The professor specializes in molecular biology.

Synonyms

• hoogleraar

Derived terms

• professoraal
• professoraat
• professorschap

Latin

Etymology

From professus, from profiteor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /proˈfes.sor/, [prɔˈfɛs̠ːɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /proˈfes.sor/, [proˈfɛsːor]

Noun

professor m (genitive professōris, feminine profestrīx); third declension

1. teacher, professor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	professor	professōrēs
Genitive	professōris	professōrum
Dative	professōrī	professōribus
Accusative	professōrem	professōrēs
Ablative	professōre	professōribus
Vocative	professor	professōrēs

Descendants

• Asturian: profesor
• Catalan: professor
• Dalmatian: professáur
• → Danish: professor
  • → Icelandic: prófessor
• German: Professor
• English: professor
  • → Malay: profesor
• Spanish: profesor
• French: professeur
• Galician: profesor
• → Indonesian: profesor
• Italian: professore
• Maltese: professur
• Occitan: professor
• Portuguese: professor
  • Kabuverdianu: profesor
  • Macanese: (from professora) sora
• Romanian: profesor
• Russian: профе́ссор (proféssor)
• Sicilian: prufissuri
• Swedish: professor
• Venetian: profesor

References

• “professor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• professor in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin professor.

Noun

professor m (definite singular professoren, indefinite plural professorer, definite plural professorene)

1. professor, the highest academic rank at a university

Derived terms

Terms derived from professor

• forskningsprofessor
• professorat

References

• “professor” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “professor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin professor.

Noun

professor m (definite singular professoren, indefinite plural professorar, definite plural professorane)

1. professor, the highest academic rank at a university

Related terms

• professorat

References

• “professor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin professor.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

professor m (plural professors, feminine professora, feminine plural professoras)

1. teacher (person teaches professionally)

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin professor.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾo.feˈsoʁ/ [pɾo.feˈsoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾo.feˈsoʁ/ [pɾo.feˈsoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /pɾo.feˈsoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /pɾo.feˈsoʁ/ [pɾo.feˈsoχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /pɾo.feˈsoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.fɨˈsoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.fɨˈsoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɾu.fɨˈso.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: pro‧fes‧sor

Noun

professor m (plural professores, feminine professora, feminine plural professoras)

1. teacher (person teaches professionally)

   Synonyms: docente (chiefly in academic contexts), mestre (dated), educador (has an affectionate or poetic undertone)

2. (Brazil, soccer, slang) coach

   Synonym: treinador

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:professor.

Derived terms

• professorzinho (diminutive), professorinho (diminutive) (dated)
• professorzão (augmentative)
• professorado
• professorar

Related terms

• professo
• professar

Descendants

• Kabuverdianu: profesor
• Macanese: (from professora) sora

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

professor c (feminine: professorska (dated))

1. professor; the highest academic rank at a university

Declension

Declension of professor
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	professor	professorn	professorer	professorerna
Genitive	professors	professorns	professorers	professorernas

Derived terms

• forskningsprofessor
• adjungerad professor
• biträdande professor
• hedersprofessor
• gästprofessor
• profession
• professor emeritus
• professorstjänst
• professur

See also

• högskoleadjunkt
• högskolelektor
• lektor
• adjunkt

Uzbek

Other scripts
Cyrillic	профессор (professor)‍
Latin	professor‍
Perso-Arabic

Noun

professor (plural professorlar)

1. professor