Pro*fes"sion (?), n. [F., fr. L. professio. See Profess, v.]
1. The act of
professing or claiming; open declaration; public avowal or acknowledgment; as,
professions of friendship; a profession of faith.
A solemn vow, promise, and profession.
Bk. of Com. Prayer. 2. That which one professed; a declaration; an avowal; a claim; as, his
professions are insincere.
The Indians quickly perceive the coincidence or the contradiction between professions and
conduct.
J. Morse. 3. That of which
one professed knowledge; the occupation, if not mechanical, agricultural, or the like, to which one devotes one's self; the business which one professes to understand, and to follow
for subsistence; calling; vocation; employment; as, the profession of arms; the
profession of a clergyman, lawyer, or physician; the profession of lecturer on chemistry.
Hi tried five or
six professions in turn.
Macaulay. &fist; The three professions, or learned professions, are, especially, theology, law, and medicine.
4. The collective body of persons engaged in a
calling; as, the profession distrust him.
5. (Eccl. Law.) The act of entering, or becoming a member of, a religious order.
Hear it pronounced