/preuh fest"/ , adj.
1. avowed; acknowledged.
2. professing to be qualified; professional, rather than amateur.
3. having taken the vows of, or been received into, a religious order.
4. alleged; pretended.
[ 1300-50; ME (in religious sense) profess ( us ) (special use of L professus, ptp. of profiteri to declare publicly, equiv. to pro- PRO- 1 + -fet-, comb. form of fateri to acknowledge + -tus ptp. suffix, with tt > ss ) + -ED 2 ]