Where does “professor” come from?
Professor comes from Old French proffessur, from Latin professor, from Latin fateor meaning "to acknowledge," combined with Latin pro meaning "before," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots bʰeh₂- and bʰuH-.
professor (English): The most senior rank for an academic at a...
Definitions
- The most senior rank for an academic at a...
Ancestry of “professor”, step by step
professor traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Anglo-Norman proffessur
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anglo-Norman | proffessur | one who professes |
| 2 | Latin | professor | teacher, professor |
| 3 | Latin | profiteor | I declare publicly, own or confess openly,... |
| 4 | Latin | prō- | forward direction, forward movement |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | *pro- | pro- see the Latin entry for further meanings |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
via Old French proffessur
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | proffessur | one who professes |