usage: an open avowal (true or false) of some belief or opinion; "a profession of disagreement"
Verb
1. profess, claim
usage: practice as a profession, teach, or claim to be knowledgeable about; "She professes organic chemistry"
2. profess, declare
usage: confess one's faith in, or allegiance to; "The terrorists professed allegiance to their country"; "he professes to be a Communist"
3. concede, profess, confess, admit, acknowledge
usage: admit (to a wrongdoing); "She confessed that she had taken the money"
4. profess, declare
usage: state freely; "The teacher professed that he was not generous when it came to giving good grades"
5. profess, accept, admit, take, take on
usage: receive into a religious order or congregation
6. profess, vow
usage: take vows, as in religious order; "she professed herself as a nun"
7. profess, pretend, claim
usage: state insincerely; "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine"