v., -fessed, -fess·ing, -fess·es.

v.tr.

1. To affirm openly; declare or claim: “a physics major [who] professes to be a stickler when it comes to data” (Gina Maranto).
2. To make a pretense of; pretend: “top officials who were deeply involved with the arms sales but later professed ignorance of them” (David Johnston).
3. 1. To practice as a profession or claim knowledge of: profess medicine.
   2. To teach (a subject) as a professor: profess literature.
4. To affirm belief in: profess Catholicism.
5. To receive into a religious order or congregation.

v.intr.

1. To make an open affirmation.
2. To take the vows of a religious order or congregation.

[Middle English professen, to take vows, from Old French profes, that has taken a religious vow (from Medieval Latin professus, avowed) and from Medieval Latin professāre, to administer a vow, both from Latin professus, past participle of profitērī, to affirm openly : pro-, forth; see pro–¹ + fatērī, to acknowledge.]

professedly pro·fess'ed·ly (-fĕs'ĭd-lē) adv.

verb

To claim or allege insincerely or falsely: feign, pretend. See true/false.

v

Definition: declare, assert
Antonyms: conceal, hide

---

IN BRIEF: To state openly. Also: To pretend.

The club wrote a long letter to profess its innocence in the prank.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - praktisere, undervise i, bekende sig til, aflægge ordensløfte
v. intr. - erklære, påstå

Nederlands (Dutch)
inwijden in een religieuze gemeenschap, openlijk verklaren, pretenderen, (geloof/loyaliteit) belijden

Français (French)
v. tr. - prétendre, faire profession de, professer
v. intr. - faire profession de, professer (une religion)

Deutsch (German)
v. - bekunden, sich bekennen zu

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - διακηρύσσω, διατρανώνω, διατείνομαι, ισχυρίζομαι, επαγγέλλομαι, ασκώ (επάγγελμα), ισχυρίζομαι πως είμαι, ομολογώ (πίστη κ.λπ.)

Italiano (Italian)
pretendere, esercitare, dichiarare, insegnare, professare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - professar, declarar, exprimir

Русский (Russian)
заявлять, объявлять, практиковать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - manifestar, pretender, declarar, profesar
v. intr. - profesar (en una orden), profesar (ser profesor)

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - förklara, tillkännage, göra anspråk på, förege, bekänna sig till, utöva

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
公开宣称, 承认, 表示, 自称, 表白, 声称, 宣誓入教

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 公開宣稱, 承認, 表示, 自稱
v. intr. - 表白, 承認, 聲稱, 宣誓入教

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 공언하다, 명언하다
v. intr. - 공언하다, 언명하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 公言する, …すると公言する, …への信仰を公言する, 信仰する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يعترف, يعلن إيمانه وولائه, يعلن, يصرح‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮טען ל-, התיימר ל-, העמיד פנים, עסק ב-, לימד (נושא מסוים), ערך טכס קבלה למסדר דתי‬
v. intr. - ‮הצהיר על אמונה או נאמנות, עבר טקס חניכה לכת או למסדר דתי‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.