profession

/pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən/

//pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"profession" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“profession” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,826. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,826
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A declaration of faith.

Corpus desk

Index EN-profession · profession · English

profession · rank #5,826 · 14 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,826
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH precise

Nearest frequency peer: precise (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “profession”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “profession” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

profession vs professor
80% similar
profession vs progression
82% similar
profession vs professional
83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for profession
PropertyValue
Headwordprofession
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#5,826
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “profession”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).professionlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “precise” (#5,825), “prospect” (#5,827), “playoff” (#5,824). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “profession” is #5,826. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around profession (IPA /pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,826 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for profession, with forms such as "porfession", "pprofession", and "prfoession". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "professor", "progression", "professional", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English professioun, from Anglo-Norman professioun, Old French profession (“declaration of faith, religious vows, occupation”), from Latin professiō (“avowal, public declaration”), from the participle stem of profitērī (“to profess”). By surface… The correct English form is profession, spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A declaration of faith.
  2. 2
    A declaration of faith.
  3. 3
    A declaration of faith.
  4. 4
    A professional occupation.
  5. 5
    A professional occupation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how profession appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. She died only a few years after her profession.
  2. Rosario was a young novice belonging to the monastery, who in three months intended to make his profession.

Etymology

From Middle English professioun, from Anglo-Norman professioun, Old French profession (“declaration of faith, religious vows, occupation”), from Latin professiō (“avowal, public declaration”), from the participle stem of profitērī (“to profess”). By surface analysis, profess + -ion.

This word in other languages

profesión(Español)profession(Français)Bekenntnis(Deutsch)profissão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • porfession
  • pprofession
  • prfoession
  • proefssion
  • profesion
  • profesison
  • professino
  • professionn
  • professoin
  • profestion
  • proffession
  • profsesion
  • prrofession
  • rpofession

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of profession - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

porfession2pprofession1prfoession2proefssion2profesion1profesison2professino2professionn1
Edit distance from "profession"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "profession"?
"profession" is spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən/.
What does "profession" mean?
As a noun, "profession" means: A declaration of faith.
What words are commonly confused with "profession"?
"profession" is commonly confused with "professor", "progression", "professional". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "profession"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "profession" is /pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "profession"?
From Middle English professioun, from Anglo-Norman professioun, Old French profession (“declaration of faith, religious vows, occupation”), from Latin professiō (“avowal, public declaration”), from the participle stem of profitērī (“to profess”). ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "profession", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

protective#5,828Pittsburgh#5,823phenomenon#5,822reportedly#5,832

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

publisher14 variantssentences14 variantsmechanics14 variantsmandatory14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list