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.
