professor

IPA/prəˈfesə(r)/
KK[prəfˈɛsɚ]IPA/prəˈfesər/

professor — noun

  • professorsingular
  • professorsplural

1. a teacher with the most senior role in a higher education department, whose job

1.nounB1
Definition

a teacher with the most senior role in a higher education department, whose job includes giving advanced classes and carrying out original research in their field of study

Example

Professor Sofie Chen has taught chemistry at National Taiwan University for over twenty years.

Professor [name] + teaches + at + university

The students in Professor Tariq's class respect him because he explains things so clearly.

Common collocations
  • full professor
  • associate professor
  • assistant professor
  • professor of physics / history / law
  • visiting professor
  • professor emeritus
Synonyms
  • lecturer

    lower rank in the UK system; in the US, 'lecturer' usually means a non-tenure-track teaching role

  • teacher

    general term for anyone who teaches, covering all levels from kindergarten to university

  • faculty member

    any academic staff at a university, regardless of rank; broader than 'professor'

Antonyms
  • student

    a person who studies under a professor's guidance

Grammar Patterns

Professor + [name]

professor of + [subject]

Usage Note

In the UK, 'professor' is the highest academic rank and only a small number of faculty hold this title. In the US, it is used more broadly for many university teachers across a series of ranks (assistant, associate, and full professor). The title is typically placed before the person's full name: Professor Lin — and is often shortened to 'Prof.' in written form.

Common Mistakes

My aunt is a professor at the local elementary school.
My aunt is a teacher at the local elementary school.
Professor is used for university or college teachers, not for school teachers.
Dr. Wang is a professor at the hospital.
Dr. Wang is a professor of medicine at the university hospital.
Professor is an academic title, not a medical one; it must refer to a teaching or research position at a university.

Word family

  • professorship
    nounB2
  • professorial
    adjectiveC1
  • prof
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A professor holds the top teaching and research position at a university, with the title indicating seniority and expertise. A lecturer is a person who gives university classes, but in the UK system this is a lower rank below professor, while in the US a lecturer often has a teaching-only role without tenure. Teacher is the broadest term — it covers anyone who instructs students at any level, from preschool to graduate school. Faculty member refers to any staff who teach or do research at a university, including professors, lecturers, and instructors. To give an example: 'Dr. Chen is a professor of biology at Stanford' tells you she holds a senior academic rank; 'Dr. Chen is a teacher at a language school' would refer to any instructional role; and 'Dr. Chen is a faculty member at the university' is a general statement about her employment.

professor ↗lecturer ↗teacher ↗faculty member

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • professor emeritus
  • visiting professor
  • full professor
  • associate professor
  • assistant professor

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'professor' comes from Latin 'professor', meaning 'one who declares or makes a public claim', from the verb 'profiteri' (to declare publicly). In the 14th century it referred to a person who professed expertise in a subject, and by the 17th century it had taken on its modern meaning of a senior university teacher.