Both Uses of
profess
in
Great Expectations
- This man pursued Miss Havisham closely, and professed to be devoted to her.†
Chpt 22 *professed = claimed
- Compeyson is the man who professed to be Miss Havisham's lover.†
Chpt 42
Definitions:
-
(1)
(profess) to claim (openly state) -- sometimes insincerely
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Much more rarely, profess can mean:
- to teach or be knowledgeable of -- as in "profess chemistry"
- practice as a profession -- as in "profess medicine"
- proclaim belief in or allegiance to -- as in "profess Catholicism"