professor

noun pro·fes·sor \ prə-ˈfe-sər \

|Updated on: 9 Aug 2018

Examples: professor in a Sentence

Definition of professor

1 : one that professes, avows, or declares

2 a : a faculty member of the highest academic rank at an institution of higher education

b : a teacher at a university, college, or sometimes secondary school

c : one that teaches or professes special knowledge of an art, sport, or occupation requiring skill

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professorial

play \ˌprō-fə-ˈsȯr-ē-əl, ˌprä-\ adjective

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professorially

play \-ē-ə-lē\ adverb

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professorship

play \prə-ˈfe-sər-ˌship\ noun

See professor defined for English-language learners

See professor defined for kids

Examples of professor in a Sentence

Professor Williams will be teaching the class.

Recent Examples of professor from the Web

Arnold is a professor in the practice of energy management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business and a former energy banker and Shell executive.

— Houston Chronicle, "Competition for top talent keeps pay scale high in oil industry," 13 July 2018
Vijay Govindarajan is professor of innovation at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and a former Marvin Bower Fellow at Harvard Business School.

— vijay govindarajan, STAT, "What India can teach the U.S. about driving down the cost of health care," 10 July 2018
Before serving on the Seventh Circuit, Barrett, a mother of seven, was a professor at Notre Dame Law School.

— CBS News, "Judge Brett Kavanaugh named Trump's second Supreme Court justice - live updates," 9 July 2018
David Fontana is a professor of law at the George Washington University School of Law.

— david fontana, Vox, "Justice Sotomayor is poised to lead the minority wing of the Supreme Court," 6 July 2018
Barrett, who identifies as Catholic, used to be a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.

— refinery29.com, "Will One Of These Women Be Trump's Next Supreme Court Nominee?," 3 July 2018
Scholars transcribed the tapes and studied their contents, and in the epilogue, a male professor gives a talk on them at a university conference several decades into the future.

— emma dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "This Week's Grueling Handmaid's Tale Is A One-Woman Show," 27 June 2018
Sean O'Keefe has watched these developments as a Syracuse University professor specializing in national security law, and in his roles as Secretary of the Navy under President George H. W. Bush and NASA Administrator under George W. Bush.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Is a Space Force Really the Best Way to Defend Space?," 22 June 2018
One of my mentors is the contemporary painter Beverly McIver, who is a professor of art, art history and visual studies at Duke University.

— jacoba urist, Smithsonian, "Maya Freelon’s Immersive and Interactive Sculptures Bring Tissue Paper to Life," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'professor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of professor

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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Other Education Terms

baccalaureate, colloquium, corequisite, dissertation, monograph, pedant, practicum, survey course, thesis

PROFESSOR Defined for English Language Learners

professor

noun

Definition of professor for English Language Learners

: a teacher especially of the highest rank at a college or university

PROFESSOR Defined for Kids

professor

noun pro·fes·sor \ prə-ˈfe-sər \

Definition of professor for Students

: a teacher especially of the highest rank at a college or university

Learn More about professor

See words that rhyme with professor Spanish Central: Translation of professor Nglish: Translation of professor for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of professor for Arabic speakers

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professor

Definition of professor

professorial

professorially

professorship

Examples of professor in a Sentence

Recent Examples of professor from the Web

First Known Use of professor

Other Education Terms

PROFESSOR Defined for English Language Learners

professor

Definition of professor for English Language Learners

PROFESSOR Defined for Kids

professor

Definition of professor for Students

Learn More about professor

Seen and Heard

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