profess
/pɹəˈfɛs/verb
profess is spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, profess means “To administer the vows of a religious order to (someone); to admit to a religious order” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in profess?
| Letters | 7: P-R-O-F-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,168th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is profess?
Profess appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce profess?
- UK /pɹəˈfɛs/
Profess has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-profess.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with profess?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as profess from its last stressed vowel (/ɛs/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of profess
- professes present, singular, he/she/it
- professing participle, present
- professed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does profess mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To administer the vows of a religious order to (someone); to admit to a religious order.
- 2
To declare oneself (to be something).
They've professed themselves delighted with the results.
- 3
To declare; to assert, affirm.
Having professed her belief in the remedy, she had little choice but to try it.
- 4
To make a claim (to be something); to lay claim to (a given quality, feeling etc.), often with connotations of insincerity.
Many profess to despise what secretly they hunger after.
- 5
To declare one's adherence to (a religion, deity, principle etc.).
- 6
To work as a professor of; to teach.
- 7
archaicTo claim to have knowledge or understanding of (a given area of interest, subject matter).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Profess in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | sich bekennen , sich zu etwas bekennen |
| Spanish | profesar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does profess come from?
From Old French professer, and its source, the participle stem of Latin profitērī, from pro- + fatērī (“to confess, acknowledge”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).