Pro*fessed" (?), a. Openly declared, avowed, acknowledged, or claimed;
as, a professed foe; a professed tyrant; a professed Christian.
The professed (R. C. Ch.) , a certain class among the Jesuits bound by
a special vow. See the note under Jesuit.
Pro*fess"ed*ly (?), adv. By profession.
Pro*fes"sion (?), n. [F., fr. L. professio. See Profess, v.] 1. The act
of professing or claiming; open declaration; public avowal or
acknowledgment; as, professions of friendship; a profession of faith.
A solemn vow, promise, and profession.
Bk. of Com. Prayer.
2. That which one professed; a declaration; an avowal; a claim; as, his
professions are insincere.
The Indians quickly perceive the coincidence or the contradiction
between professions and conduct.
J. Morse.
3. That of which one professed knowledge; the occupation, if not
mechanical, agricultural, or the like, to which one devotes one's self;
the business which one professes to understand, and to follow for
subsistence; calling; vocation; employment; as, the profession of arms;
the profession of a clergyman, lawyer, or physician; the profession of
lecturer on chemistry.
Hi tried five or six professions in turn.
Macaulay.
The three professions, or learned professions, are, especially,
theology, law, and medicine.
4. The collective body of persons engaged in a calling; as, the
profession distrust him.
5. (Eccl. Law.) The act of entering, or becoming a member of, a
religious order.
Pro*fes"sion*al (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to a profession, or
calling; conforming to the rules or standards of a profession;
following a profession; as, professional knowledge; professional
conduct. "Pride, not personal, but professional." Macaulay. "A
professional sneerer." De Quincey.
2. Engaged in by professionals; as, a professional race; -- opposed to
amateur.
Pro*fes"sion*al, n. A person who prosecutes anything professionally, or
for a livelihood, and not in the character of an amateur; a
professional worker.
Pro*fes"sion*al*ism (?), n. The following of a profession, sport, etc.,
as an occupation; -- opposed to amateurism.