professional

English

Etymology

From Middle English professhennalle, professhynalle; equivalent to profession +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹəˈfɛʃənəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

professional (plural professionals)

1. A person who belongs to a profession
2. A person who earns their living from a specified activity
3. (euphemistic) A prostitute
   • There was this nice lady who flirted with me at the bar, but it turned out that she was a professional.
4. A reputation known by name
5. An expert
   • 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, 1992 Bantam edition, →ISBN, page 97:

     I have learned that there is a person attached to a golf club called a professional. Find out who fills that post at the Green Meadow Club; […] invite the professional, urgently, to dine with us this evening.

Derived terms

• non-professional, nonprofessional
• pseudo-professional, pseudoprofessional
• semi-professional, semiprofessional
• super professional, super-professional, superprofessional

Translations

person who belongs to a profession

• Armenian: մասնագետ (hy) (masnaget)
• Azerbaijani: peşəkar
• Bulgarian: професионалист m (profesionalist)
• Catalan: professional (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 專業人士, 专业人士 (zhuānyè rénshì)

• Dutch: beroeps (nl), professional (nl) m
• Esperanto: isto (eo)
• Finnish: ammattilainen (fi)
• Galician: profesional (gl) m or f
• Greek: επαγγελματίας (el) m or f (epangelmatías)
• Hungarian: szakember (hu), szaki (hu)

• Irish: gairmí m
• Italian: professionista (it)
• Japanese: プロフェッショナル (ja) (purofesshonaru), プロ (ja) (puro)
• Kyrgyz: кесипкөй (kesipqöy)
• Maori: mātanga
• Mongolian: мэргэжилтэн (mn) (mergejilten), мэргэжлийн хүн (mergejliyn hün)
• Portuguese: profissional (pt) m or f
• Romanian: profesionist (ro) m
• Russian: профессиона́л (ru) m (professionál), профессиона́лка (ru) f (professionálka)
• Slovak: odborník (sk) m, odborníčka (sk) f, profesionál m, profesionálka f
• Spanish: profesional (es) m or f, profesionista m or f (Mexico)
• Tagalog: manunungkulan

person who earns their living from a specified activity

• Arabic: مُحْتَرِف‎ m (muḥtarif), مُحْتَرِفَة‎ f (muḥtarifa)

  Egyptian Arabic: محترف‎ m (muḥtaref), محترفة‎ f (muḥtarefa)

• Armenian: մասնագետ (hy) (masnaget)
• Azerbaijani: peşəkar
• Catalan: professional (ca) m or f
• Czech: profesionál (cs) m
• Dutch: beroeps (nl), professional (nl) m
• Finnish: ammattilainen (fi), ammattimies (fi)
• German: Profi (de) m, Professioneller m, Professionelle f

• Greek: επαγγελματίας (el) m or f (epangelmatías)
• Hungarian: profi (hu)
• Polish: zawodowiec (pl) m, profesjonalista (pl) m
• Portuguese: profissional (pt) m or f
• Russian: профессиона́л (ru) m (professionál), профессиона́лка (ru) f (professionálka)
• Slovak: profesionál m, profesionálka f, odborník (sk) m, odborníčka (sk) f
• Spanish: profesional (es) m or f, profesionista m or f (Mexico)
• Swedish: proffs (sv) n
• Thai: มืออาชีพ (mʉʉ-aa-chîip)

expert

• Armenian: մասնագետ (hy) (masnaget)
• Azerbaijani: peşəkar
• Bulgarian: специалист (bg) m (specialist)
• Catalan: professional (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 專家 (zh), 专家 (zh) (zhuānjiā)

• Czech: profesionál (cs) m
• Dutch: deskundige (nl), expert (nl) m
• Finnish: ammattilainen (fi), ekspertti (fi), asiantuntija (fi)
• French: professionnel (fr) m, professionnelle (fr) f
• German: Profi (de) m
• Greek: επαγγελματίας (el) m or f (epangelmatías), επιτηδευματίας (el) m or f (epitidevmatías)

• Hungarian: profi (hu), szakértő (hu), szakember (hu), szaki (hu)
• Japanese: プロフェッショナル (ja) (purofesshonaru), プロ (ja) (puro), 専門家 (ja) (せんもんか, senmonka)
• Kyrgyz: кесипкөй (kesipqöy)
• Mongolian: мэргэжилтэн (mn) (mergejilten)
• Polish: profesjonalista (pl) m, zawodowiec (pl) m
• Portuguese: profissional (pt) m or f
• Russian: профессиона́л (ru) m (professionál), профессиона́лка (ru) f (professionálka), специали́ст (ru) m (specialíst), специали́стка (ru) f (specialístka), экспе́рт (ru) m (ekspért)
• Slovak: odborník (sk) m, odborníčka (sk) f
• Swedish: proffs (sv) n, expert (sv) c

Adjective

professional (comparative more professional, superlative most professional)

1. Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the (usually high) standards of a profession.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill; […].

   • 2019 March 18, Steven Pifer, Five years after Crimea’s illegal annexation, the issue is no closer to resolution‎^[1], The Center for International Security and Cooperation:

     The little green men were clearly professional soldiers by their bearing, carried Russian weapons, and wore Russian combat fatigues, but they had no identifying insignia. Vladimir Putin originally denied they were Russian soldiers; that April, he confirmed they were.

2. That is carried out for money, especially as a livelihood.
3. (by extension) Expert.

Derived terms

• non-professional, nonprofessional
• professionalism
• pseudo-professional, pseudoprofessional
• semi-professional, semiprofessional
• unprofessional

Translations

of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the standards of a profession

• Armenian: մասնագիտական (hy) (masnagitakan)
• Azerbaijani: peşəkar
• Belarusian: прафесіянальны (prafjesijanalʹny)
• Bulgarian: професионален (bg) (profesionalen)
• Catalan: professional (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: profesionální (cs) m
• Danish: professionel
• Dutch: beroeps-, professioneel (nl)
• Esperanto: profesia
• Finnish: ammattimainen (fi), ammatillinen (fi)
• French: professionnel (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: professionell (de), Berufs- (de)
• Hungarian: szakmai (hu), professzionális, profi (hu), szakszerű (hu), hozzáértő (hu)
• Irish: gairmiúil
• Italian: professionale (it)

• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: ngaio
• Mongolian: мэргэжлийн (mergejliyn)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: profesjonell (no), faglig, yrkesmessig

  Nynorsk: profesjonell, fagleg, yrkesmessig

• Persian: حرفه‌ای‎ (fa) (herfe'i)
• Polish: profesjonalny (pl)
• Portuguese: profissional (pt) m or f
• Romanian: profesional (ro) m or n
• Russian: профессиона́льный (ru) (professionálʹnyj)
• Slovak: profesionálny, odborný
• Spanish: profesional (es)
• Swedish: professionell (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: професі́йний (uk) (profesíjnyj)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

that is carried out as a livelihood

• Czech: profesionální (cs)
• Danish: professionel
• Finnish: ammattimainen (fi)
• German: berufsmäßig (de), professionell (de)
• Hungarian: hivatásos (hu), profi (hu)
• Irish: gairmiúil
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: profesjonell (no)

  Nynorsk: profesjonell

• Persian: حرفه‌ای‎ (fa) (herfe'i)
• Portuguese: profissional (pt) m or f
• Romanian: profesional (ro) m or n, profesionist (ro) m or n
• Russian: профессиона́льный (ru) (professionálʹnyj)
• Slovak: profesionálny
• Spanish: profesional (es)
• Swedish: professionell (sv)

expert

• Armenian: արհեստավարժ (hy) (arhestavarž), պրոֆեսիոնալ (hy) (profesional)
• Catalan: professional (ca), perit (ca)
• Czech: profesionální (cs)
• Dutch: deskundig (nl)
• Finnish: ammattimainen (fi), ammattitaitoinen (fi)
• German: professionell (de)
• Hungarian: profi (hu)
• Italian: specializzato (it), qualificato (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: profesjonell (no)

  Nynorsk: profesjonell

• Portuguese: profissional (pt) m or f
• Romanian: profesional (ro) m or n
• Russian: профессиона́льный (ru) (professionálʹnyj)
• Slovak: odborný
• Swedish: professionell (sv)
• Vietnamese: chuyên gia (vi)

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Catalan

Etymology

professió +‎ -al

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /pɾo.fə.si.oˈnal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /pɾu.fə.si.uˈnal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /pɾo.fe.si.oˈnal/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

professional (masculine and feminine plural professionals)

1. professional

Derived terms

• professionalisme
• professionalment

Noun

professional m or f (plural professionals)

1. professional

Further reading

• “professional” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “professional”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022
• “professional” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “professional” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Dutch

Etymology

From English professional.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

professional m (plural professionals)

1. a professional practicioner of a trade, métier...
2. an expert in a (professional) field

Related terms

• professionalism n