English
profess
Profess comes from Old French professer ‘to profess’, from Latin fateor ‘to confess, acknowledge’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to speak’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to speak’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fatēōr‘to confess’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfateoras fatērī‘to confess, acknowledge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofitērī
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400professer‘to profess’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604profess
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to speak’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fatēōr‘to confess’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfateoras fatērī‘to confess, acknowledge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofitērī
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400professer‘to profess’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604profess
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure: “He professes to haue receiued no sinister measure from…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to speak’
phone, focus, famous, fuel, ben, phase, favor, favourite, ban, fantasy, fate, fancy, fame, photographer, emphasis, phenomenon, fatal, bee, fairy, fabulous, abandon, infant, phantom, symphony, beacon, beck, boon, eff, fab, fay, bane, epiphany, fable, foyer, banish, buoy, nefarious, fantasia, bene, banal, 125 more
through Proto-Italic *fatēōr ‘to confess’
confessional, confessor, 6 more
through Latin fateor ‘to confess, acknowledge’
Today it means
verb To administer the vows of a religious order to (someone); to admit to a religious order.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- / profess