Where does “professorship” come from?
Professorship comes from Old French proffessur, from Latin professor meaning "one who professes," derived from fateor "to acknowledge," combined with pro "before," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰeh₂- meaning "to speak."
professorship (English): the office of a professor
Definitions
- the office of a professor
Ancestry of “professorship”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Professor | The title for someone who holds the professor job |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | proffessur | one who professes |
| 3 | Latin | professor | teacher, professor |
| 4 | Latin | profiteor | I declare publicly, own or confess openly,... |
| 5 | Latin | prō- | forward direction, forward movement |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *pro- | pro- see the Latin entry for further meanings |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |