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."
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."
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." Note: 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.
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