Professing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To openly declare one's beliefs, values, or opinions while adopting a certain role or identity in society, often with a sense of commitment or sincerity
2. To openly state or affirm one's beliefs, values, or feelings publicly
3. To express or acknowledge personal convictions or emotions in a clear and explicit way

Etymology: The verb "profess" comes from Old French "professer", which in turn came from the participle stem of Latin "profitērī", a compound of "pro-" (forth, publicly) and "fatērī", meaning to confess or acknowledge. So at its root is the act of stepping forward and openly owning up to something. That public sense of confession is the heart of the word: a Latin speaker who professed something was making a declaration out loud, not merely holding a view privately. The "-ing" ending simply turns the verb into a form that describes an ongoing act, so "professing" carries that same idea of declaring openly. Its meaning has stayed close to the Latin root, which is unusual for a word that has travelled through French into English, where the notion of confessing a faith or belief has remained its central sense.

Synonyms: declaring, asserting, claiming, avowing, proclaiming

Antonyms: concealing, denying, disavowing, refuting, rejecting