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professor

professor

3.2
A senior teacher and researcher at a university or college
  • noun
  • /prəˈfɛsər/
translation icon : profesor universitario
  • Rebecca Zorach is an associate professor of art history at the University of Chicago.
  • assistant professor
  • university professor
  • associate professor

I met and one of my professors was Art Laffer.

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Examples

  • Roland H. Good III, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Oregon.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Joost Keizer is an assistant professor of the history of art at Yale University.

    Academic text (2011)
  • So take your time, copy what your professor does and go slowly.

  • I called the university and made an appointment to interview the professor who had written the book.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Looks like they were both professors in London, England.

  • Paul D. Miller is Assistant Professor of International Security Studies at the National Defense University.

    Academic text (2011)
  • And I have a question for Professor Schwartz.

  • Amy Freund is an assistant professor of art history at Texas Christian University.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Lori L. Newcomer is an assistant research professor at the University of Missouri.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I was a professor of philosophy at the local university for many years.

Synonyms

prof
vsprofessor
  • Informal
323 7.9

A college or university teacher who gives lectures and advice to students

is a formal title for a senior university teacher often holding highest rank
academic
vsprofessor
68 3.9

A person who teaches or does research at a university

is narrower, meaning a senior teacher and researcher with top rank
faculty member
vsprofessor
40 3.5

A teacher or researcher who works at a university

is used for senior staff who hold the highest university rank
don
vsprofessor
  • UK
3 7.9

A teacher at a university, especially at Oxford or Cambridge

is the general senior university teacher term not tied to those colleges

Antonyms

1.0

A person who studies at a school or university

Compounds

A university teacher who ranks above an assistant professor and below a full professor

A teacher at a college or university who has a lower rank than an associate professor

A college or university teacher who teaches English language and literature

A teacher or researcher from another university who works there for a short time

A senior university teacher with the highest academic rank

A professor at a British university appointed by the king or queen

How Senior

professor
3.2
lecturer
42 3.1

Surface Forms

professor singular
professors plural

Morphology

professor = profess (semi-transparent) = profess + or

Formed by the agentive suffix '-or' from the verb 'profess'; the agentive relation is clear but the specialized academic rank meaning is not a straightforward derivation for average learners.

Etymology

Professor comes from Latin parts pro- 'forth' and fateri 'to declare', and is related to the verb profess. So a professor is someone who publicly declares or teaches what they know, which fits a senior teacher at a university.