English
professor
Professor comes from Middle English professor, from Anglo-Norman proffessur and Latin professor ‘declarer’, from profiteor ‘to profess’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofiteor‘to profess’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofessor‘declarer, one who claims knowledge’past participle stem of profiteor
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400proffessur
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500professor
- Englishearliest quotation 1591professor
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofiteor‘to profess’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofessor‘declarer, one who claims knowledge’past participle stem of profiteor
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400proffessur
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500professor
- Englishearliest quotation 1591professor
Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “[…] I alvvayes thought / It vvas both impious…”
Equivalent to profess + -or
Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to speak’
Proto-Italic *fatēōr ‘to confess’
Latin fateor ‘to confess, acknowledge’
Latin profitērī
Old French professer ‘to profess’
English profess
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
phone, focus, famous, fuel, ben, phase, favourite, ban, fantasy, favor, 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, prophetic, 125 more
through Proto-Italic *fatēōr ‘to confess’
confessional, confessor, 6 more
through Latin fateor ‘to acknowledge’
Today it means
noun The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin profiteor / professor