Professor Meaning
/pɹəˈfɛs.ə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
nounA teacher or faculty member at a college or university regardless of formal rank.
Sentence Examples
The professor seemed to be lost in thought.
The professor treated her as one of his students.
The film features Cary Grant as a professor.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ taught the students about ancient history in the lecture hall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ delivered a fascinating lecture on the history of the Roman Empire to a packed auditorium.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English professor, professour, from Anglo-Norman proffessur and its etymon Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”), from the past participle stem of profiteor (“profess”). By surface analysis, profess + -or.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Professor is what you become after teaching for twenty to thirty years."
— 2014 November 22, Michel Clasquin-Johnson, “What is the difference between a research professor and a professor”, in Quora:
"[…] I alvvayes thought / It vvas both impious and vnnaturall, / That ſuch immanity and bloody ſtrife / Should reigne among Profeſſors of one Faith."
— 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 114, column 2:
"As for Religion, I have not said, much lesse meant irreverently of it, or of the Professors thereof."
— 1660, William Petty, Reflections upon some Persons and Things in Ireland, page 170, column 1:
"You could hear […] pianos under the hands of whorehouse professors sounding like they came with keys between the keys."
— 2006, Thomas Pynchon, “(please specify the page)”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN:
"This is just what I wanted. I got professor environment pants over here, and I can't get my jetski started. How am I gonna get back?"
— 2022 July 14, Charlie Berens and You Betcha, Kayak Vs Jetski:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ taught the students about ancient history in the lecture hall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ delivered a fascinating lecture on the history of the Roman Empire to a packed auditorium.