WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Pro*fes"sion
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F., fr. L. professio. See Profess, v.]
Definition : 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.

Note: 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.)

Defn: The act of entering, or becoming a member of, a religious order.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913