profess

verb7

1. •
   [with oneself] To declare oneself (to be something).

   • They've professed themselves delighted with the results.
2. •
   To declare; to assert, affirm.

   • Having professed her belief in the remedy, she had little choice but to try it.
3. •
   To make a claim (to be something); to lay claim to (a given quality, feeling etc.), often with connotations of insincerity.

   • Many profess to despise what secretly they hunger after.
4. •
   To declare one's adherence to (a religion, deity, principle etc.).

   • The remainder of the population, about two-thirds, belongs to the Mongolian race and professes Buddhism. — 1983
5. •
   To administer the vows of a religious order to (someone); to admit to a religious order.

   • This swayed the balance decisively in Mary's favour, and she was professed on 8 September 1578. — 2000
6. •
   To work as a professor of; to teach.

   • he was a Spaniard, who about two hundred yeeres since professed Physicke in Tholouse[…]. — 1603
7. •
   (no longer used) To claim to have knowledge or understanding of (a given area of interest, subject matter).