/ prəˈfeʃn; NAmE / noun
1.
[ C ] a type of job that needs special training or skill, especially one that needs a high level of education :
the medical / legal / teaching, etc. profession
to enter / go into / join a profession
( BrE )
the caring professions (= that involve looking after people)
He was an electrician by profession .
She was at the very top of her profession.
➡ note at work
2.
the profession [ sing.+ sing./pl. v . ] all the people who work in a particular type of profession :
The legal profession has / have always resisted change.
3.
the professions [ pl. ] the traditional jobs that need a high level of education and training, such as being a doctor or a lawyer :
employment in industry and the professions
4.
[ C ] profession of sth a statement about what you believe, feel or think about sth, that is sometimes made publicly
SYN declaration :
a profession of faith
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (denoting the vow made on entering a religious order): via Old French from Latin professio(n-) , from profiteri declare publicly, from pro- before + fateri confess. Senses 1 and 2 derive from the notion of an occupation that one “professes” to be skilled in.