profession

See also:Profession

English

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishprofessioun,fromAnglo-Normanprofessioun,Old Frenchprofession(“declaration of faith, religious vows, occupation”),fromLatinprofessiō(“avowal, public declaration”),from the participle stem ofprofitērī(“to profess”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/pɹəˈfɛʃən/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Audio(UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛʃən

Noun

profession(pluralprofessions)

1. Declaration of faith.
   1. (religion)Apromiseorvowmade on entering a religious order.[from 12th c.]

      She died only a few years after herprofession.

      • 1796,Matthew Lewis,The Monk,Folio Society, published1985,page27:

        Rosario was a young novice belonging to the monastery, who in three months intended to make hisprofession.

   2. The declaration of belief in the principles of areligion;hence, one'sfaithorreligion.[from 16th c.]
      • 1780,William Cowper,letter, 12 June:

        I congratulate you upon the wisdom that withheld you from entering yourself a member of the Protestant Association[…]it is likely to bring an odium upon theprofessionthey make, that will not soon be forgotten.

   3. Any declaration of belief, faith or one's opinion, whether genuine or (as now often implied) pretended.[from 16th c.]

      Despite his continuedprofessionsof innocence, the court eventually sentenced him to five years.

      • 1837,L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Presentiment”, inEthel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides.[…],volume II, London:Henry Colburn,[…],→OCLC,page126:

        I scarcely know any thing that really interests me, and I would give a great deal not to be so quick-sighted as I am; it would be so pleasant to believe only a tithe of theprofessionsthat are made me.

2. Professional occupation.
   1. Anoccupation,trade,craft,oractivityin which one has a professedexpertisein a particular area; ajob,especially one requiring a high level ofskillor training.[from 15th c.]

      My father was a barrister byprofession.

      • 1886,George Bernard Shaw,Cashel Byron’s Profession.[…],London: The Modern Press,[…],→OCLC,page 4:

        “You are very idle, Cashel; I am sure of that. It is too provoking to throw away so much money every year for nothing. Besides, you must soon be thinking of aprofession.”“I shall go into the army,” said Cashel. “It is the onlyprofessionfor a gentleman.”

   2. (collective)The practitioners of such an occupation collectively.[from 17th c.]

      His conduct is against the established practices of the legalprofession.

Derived terms

• caring profession
• helping profession
• liberal profession
• oldest profession
• oldest profession in the world
• professional
• professionless
• profession of faith
• pseudoprofession
• semiprofession
• world's oldest profession

Translations

declaration of faith, belief or opinion

• Bulgarian:вероизповеда́ние(bg)n(veroizpovedánie)
• Dutch:professie(nl)f
• Finnish:uskontunnustus(fi)(of faith),julistus(fi),vakuutus(fi)(of opinion)
• French:profession(fr)f
• German:Bekenntnis(de)n
• Greek:ομολογία(el)f(omología)
• Romanian:profesiune de credință(ro)f(of faith)
• Russian:вероиспове́дание(ru)n(veroispovédanije)
• Spanish:profesión(es)f
• Telugu:విశ్వాసం(viśvāsaṁ)

occupation

• Albanian:profesion(sq)m,xajëf
• Arabic:مِهْنَةf(mihna),وَظِيفَة(ar)f(waẓīfa)

  Egyptian Arabic:مهنةf(mihna)

• Armenian:մասնագիտություն(hy)(masnagitutʻyun)
• Assamese:পেছা(pesa)
• Azerbaijani:peşə(az),ixtisas,məslək
• Bashkir:профессия(professiya),һөнәр(hönər)
• Belarusian:прафе́сіяf(prafjésija),фахm(fax),заня́так(be)m(zanjátak),заня́ццеn(zanjáccje)
• Bengali:পেশা(bn)(peśa)
• Bulgarian:профе́сия(bg)f(profésija),заня́тие(bg)n(zanjátie)
• Burmese:အလုပ်အကိုင်(my)(a.lup-a.kuing),အလုပ်(my)(a.lup)
• Carpathian Rusyn:профе́сіяf(profésija)
• Catalan:professió(ca)f,ofici(ca)m
• Chechen:корматалла(kormatalla)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Chức nghiệp／Chức nghiệp(zik¹jip⁶),Hành nghiệp／Hành nghiệp(hong⁴jip⁶)

  Eastern Min:Chức nghiệp／Chức nghiệp(cék-ngiĕk)

  Mandarin:Chức nghiệp／Chức nghiệp(zh)(zhíyè),Hành nghiệp／Hành nghiệp(zh)(hángyè)

  Wu:Chức nghiệp／Chức nghiệp(⁷tseq-gniq)

• Czech:povolání(cs)n,profese(cs)f
• Danish:erhverv(da),fagn,profession(da)c,livsstillingc
• Dutch:beroep(nl)n,professie(nl)f
• Esperanto:profesio(eo)
• Estonian:amet(et),elukutse(et)
• Finnish:ammatti(fi)
• French:profession(fr)f,métier(fr)m
• Galician:profesión(gl)f
• Georgian:პროფესია(ka)(ṗropesia),სპეციალობა(sṗecialoba),ხელობა(xeloba),საქმიანობა(sakmianoba)
• German:Beruf(de)m,Profession(de)f
• Greek:επάγγελμα(el)n(epángelma)

  Ancient Greek:ἐπάγγελμαn(epángelma)

• Hebrew:מִקְצוֹעַ(he)m(miktsóa)
• Hindi:पेशा(hi)m(peśā),वृत्ति(hi)f(vŕtti),व्यवसाय(hi)m(vyavsāy),व्यवहार(hi)m(vyavhār)
• Hungarian:foglalkozás(hu),hivatás(hu),szakma(hu),mesterség(hu)
• Icelandic:atvinna(is)f
• Indonesian:profesi(id)
• Ingrian:ammatti
• Irish:gairm(ga)f
• Italian:professione(it)f
• Japanese:Chức nghiệp(ja)(しょくぎょう, shokugyō)
• Kannada:ವೃತ್ತಿ(kn)(vṛtti)
• Kazakh:мамандық(kk)(mamandyq),кәсіп(käsıp)
• Khmer:វិជ្ជាជីវៈ(vɨcciəciivĕəʼ),អម្រស់(km)(ʼɑmrɑh)
• Korean:직업( chức nghiệp )(ko)(jigeop)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish:pîşe(ku),meslek(ku),mihne(ku),hokar(ku),kariyer(ku),profesyon(ku)

• Kyrgyz:профессия(ky)(professiya),кесип(ky)(kesip)
• Lao:ອາຊີບ(ʼā sīp),ວິຊາຊີບ(wi sā sīp)
• Latvian:amats(lv)m,profesijaf
• Lithuanian:profesijaf
• Macedonian:професија(mk)f(profesija),занимање(mk)n(zanimanje)
• Malay:profesion
• Malayalam:തൊഴിൽ(ml)(toḻil)
• Maltese:professjonif
• Maori:umanga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic:мэргэжил(mn)(mergežil)

  Mongolian:ᠮᠡᠷᠭᠡᠵᠢᠯ(mergeǰil)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:yrke(no)n,profesjonm

  Nynorsk:yrken,profesjonm

• Odia:ବୃତ୍ତି(or)(brutti)
• Oromo:ogummaa
• Pashto:مسلک(ps)m(maslak),پېشهf(peša),کسبm(kasb),ورهڼه(ps)f(warhǝṇa),حرفه(ps)f(herfa)
• Persian:

  Dari:پیشَه(fa)(pēša),حِرْفَه(fa)(hirfa),کَسْب(fa)(kasb),شُغْل(fa)(šuğl)

  Iranian Persian:پیشِه(fa)(piše),حِرْفِه(fa)(herfe),کَسْب(fa)(kasb),شُغْل(fa)(šoğl)

• Polish:zawód(pl)m,fach(pl)m
• Portuguese:profissão(pt)f
• Romanian:profesie(ro)f,meserie(ro)f,profesiune(ro)f,meșteșug(ro)
• Russian:профе́ссия(ru)f(proféssija),заня́тие(ru)n(zanjátije)
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami:профессья(profjess’’a)

• Scottish Gaelic:dreuchdf
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:профѐсијаf,зани́ма̄њеn

  Roman:profèsija(sh)f,zanímānje(sh)n

• Sinhalese:වෘත්තිය(si)(wr̥ttiya)
• Slovak:povolanien,profesiaf
• Slovene:poklicm
• Spanish:profesión(es)f
• Swedish:yrke(sv)n,fack(sv)n,profession(sv)c
• Tagalog:panungkulan,propesyon
• Tajik:касб(kasb),пеша(peša),ҳунар(hunar),ихтисос(ixtisos)
• Tamil:தொழில்(ta)(toḻil)
• Tatar:һөнәр(tt)(hönär)
• Telugu:వృత్తి(te)(vr̥tti)
• Thai:อาชีพ(th)(aa-chîip)
• Tibetan:ལས་རིགས(las rigs)
• Turkish:meslek(tr)
• Turkmen:kesp,hünär,kär
• Ukrainian:профе́сія(uk)f(profésija),фах(uk)m(fax),заня́ттяn(zanjáttja)
• Urdu:پیشَہm(peśa),شُغْلm(śuġl)
• Uyghur:كەسىپ(kesip)
• Uzbek:kasb(uz),hunar(uz)
• Vietnamese:nghề(vi),nghề nghiệp(vi)
• Volapük:cal(vo)
• Yiddish:פּראָפֿעסיעf(profesye)

practitioners of a profession collectively

• Finnish:ammattikunta,professio
• French:profession(fr)f,corps de métier(fr)m
• Greek:ομότεχνοι(el)mpl(omótechnoi),επάγγελμα(el)n(epángelma)
• Romanian:profesie(ro)f
• Slovak:profesiaf
• Spanish:gremio(es)m
• Telugu:వృత్తి(te)(vr̥tti)

promise or vow made on entering a religious order

• Bulgarian:обе́т(bg)m(obét)
• Finnish:lupaus(fi)
• French:profession(fr)f
• German:Profess(de)f,Gelübde(de)n
• Greek:ομολογία(el)f(omología),διακύρηξηf(diakýrixi)
• Romanian:profesiune de credință(ro)f,jurământ(ro)n,legământ(ro)n
• Russian:обе́т(ru)m(obét)
• Spanish:profesión(es)f,profesión de fef
• Telugu:ప్రమాణము(te)(pramāṇamu)

French

Etymology

BorrowedfromLatinprōfessiōnem(accusative singularprōfessiōnem).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/pʁɔ.fɛ.sjɔ̃/~/pʁɔ.fe.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

professionf(pluralprofessions)

1. profession,public declaration

   Touteprofessiond'incrédulité (...) sera poursuivie comme outrage à la religion et scandale pour les mœurs.(Proudhon, Révol. soc., 1852)

   1. profession,public declaration of faith

      D'une voix altérée, il prononça laprofessionde foi musulmane, comme pour se prémunir contre une tentation qu'il redoutait sans pouvoir la préciser.(Du Camp, Nil, 1854)

2. profession,occupation, trade, craft, activity

   uneprofessionlucrative.

3. profession,practitioners of a profession collectively

   Ces décisions s’imposent à toute laprofession,elles ne sont exécutoires qu’après approbation par le ministre.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• profession de foi
• professionnalisation
• professionnaliser
• professionnalisme
• professionnellement
• professionnel,professionnelle

Related terms

• professer
• professeur

Further reading

• “profession”,inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.

Old French

Alternative forms

• professioun(Anglo-Norman)
• professiun(Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

Borrowed fromLatinprofessio.

Noun

professionoblique singular,f(oblique pluralprofessions,nominative singularprofession,nominative pluralprofessions)

1. profession;declaration(usually of faith)

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric,Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes duIX^eauXV^esiècle(1881)(profession,supplement)