professor

/pɹəˈfɛs.ə/

//pɹəˈfɛs.ə// noun

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

"professor" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“professor” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,350 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,350
frequency rank, English
9
letters
12
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

professor vs profess
78% similar
professor vs processor
89% similar
professor vs professed
78% similar

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

Key facts for professor
PropertyValue
Headwordprofessor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɹəˈfɛs.ə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#1,350
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “professor” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). professor lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for professor is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹəˈfɛs.ə/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,350 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for professor, with forms such as "porfessor", "pprofessor", and "prfoessor". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "profess", "processor", "professed", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English professor, professour, from Anglo-Norman proffessur and its etymon Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”), from the past participle stem of profiteor (“profess”). By surface analysis, profess + -or. The correct English form is professor, spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
  2. 2
    A teacher or faculty member at a college or university regardless of formal rank.
  3. 3
    One who professes something, such as a religious doctrine.
  4. 4
    A practitioner, one who (publicly) practises or teaches an art or skill.
  5. 5
    A pianist in a saloon, brothel, etc.
  6. 6
    The puppeteer who performs a Punch and Judy show; a Punchman.

Etymology

From Middle English professor, professour, from Anglo-Norman proffessur and its etymon Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”), from the past participle stem of profiteor (“profess”). By surface analysis, profess + -or.

This word in other languages

profesor(Español)professeur(Français)Professor(Deutsch)professor(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: porfessor,pprofessor,prfoessor,proefssor,profesor,profesosr,professorr,professro,proffessor,profsesor,prrofessor,rpofessor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of professor - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

porfessor2pprofessor1prfoessor2proefssor2profesor1profesosr2professorr1professro2
Edit distance from "professor"

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 "professor"?
"professor" is spelled P-R-O-F-E-S-S-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /pɹəˈfɛs.ə/.
What does "professor" mean?
As a noun, "professor" means: The most senior rank for an academic at a university or similar institution.
What words are commonly confused with "professor"?
"professor" is commonly confused with "profess", "processor", "professed". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "professor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "professor" is /pɹəˈfɛs.ə/. 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 "professor"?
From Middle English professor, professour, from Anglo-Norman proffessur and its etymon Latin professor (“declarer, person who claims knowledge”), from the past participle stem of profiteor (“profess”). By surface analysis, profess + -or. 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.

Using “professor”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-R-O-F-E-S-S-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /pɹəˈfɛs.ə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “profess” - see the side-by-side comparison. professor vs profess
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list