Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To affirm openly; declare or claim.
- intransitive verb To make a pretense of; pretend.
- intransitive verb To practice as a profession or claim knowledge of.
- intransitive verb To affirm belief in.
- intransitive verb To receive into a religious order or congregation.
- intransitive verb To make an open affirmation.
- intransitive verb To take the vows of a religious order or congregation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To declare openly; make open declaration of; avow or acknowledge; own freely; affirm.
- To acknowledge or own publicly; also, to lay claim openly to the character of.
- To affirm faith in or allegiance to: as, to
profess Christianity. - To make a show of; make protestations of; make a pretense of; pretend.
- To announce publicly one's skill in, as a science or a profession; declare one's self versed in: as, to
profess surgery. - In the Rom. Cath. and Anglican churches, to receive into a religious order by profession.
- To present the appearance of.
- Synonyms and To declare, allege, aver, avouch.
- To lay claim to.
- To declare openly; make any declaration or assertion.
- To enter into the religious state by public declaration or profession.
- To declare or pretend friendship.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To take a profession upon one's self by a public declaration; to confess.
- intransitive verb obsolete To declare friendship.
- transitive verb To make open declaration of, as of one's knowledge, belief, action, etc.; to avow or acknowledge; to confess publicly; to own or admit freely.
- transitive verb To set up a claim to; to make presence to; hence, to put on or present an appearance of.
- transitive verb To present to knowledge of, to proclaim one's self versed in; to make one's self a teacher or practitioner of, to set up as an authority respecting; to declare (one's self to be such)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb state freely
- verb practice as a profession, teach, or claim to be knowledgeable about
- verb admit (to a wrongdoing)
- verb confess one's faith in, or allegiance to
- verb take vows, as in religious order
- verb state insincerely
- verb receive into a religious order or congregation
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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For instance, when these churchmen again profess and put their signatures to those anti-liberal documents, then we know that they too have got out of their Hegelianism.
His Lordship Gives an Update Francis 2006
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For instance, when these churchmen again profess and put their signatures to those anti-liberal documents, then we know that they too have got out of their Hegelianism.
Archive 2006-11-01 Francis 2006
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The system of Optimism, to which I assent & which I therefore profess, is not without difficulties, great & many. but every other system appears to me to have more
Letter 211 1797
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Do we not therein profess to be in friendship, and to have fellowship, with him?
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation) 1721
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The cause of God's people, and of that holy religion which they profess, is a righteous cause, otherwise the righteous God would not appear for it; yet it may for a time be run down, and seem as if it were lost.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
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Before we proceed further, however, it may be necessary that we should give a brief attention to the lexicography of these two terms profess and confess, as English words; especially as our translators have rendered the Greek word omologia by these two words, indifferently, as though they were equivalents; and thus the English reader is
Confession a Fundamental Doctrine of the Gospel Economy: William Calmes 1872
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I am better pleased that it should be so; in leaving me there, they humour what I profess, which is to settle and wholly contain myself within myself.
The Essays of Montaigne — Volume 14 Michel de Montaigne 1562
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I am better pleased that it should be so; in leaving me there, they humour what I profess, which is to settle and wholly contain myself within myself.
The Essays of Montaigne — Complete Michel de Montaigne 1562
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People who, based on previous movie preferences, could reliably be expected to like the film can't stand it; those who have shown no interest in similar titles profess to love it.
Telegraph.co.uk: news business sport the Daily Telegraph newspaper Sunday Telegraph 2009
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Any profession does--if you "profess," expect to be challenged, especially by your peers.
On Why Sarah Fine Left Teaching doyle 2009
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