different between practical vs professional

English

Etymology

From practic +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?ækt?k?l/
• Hyphenation: prac?ti?cal

Noun

practical (plural practicals)

1. (Britain) A part of an exam or series of exams in which the candidate has to demonstrate their practical ability
2. (theater) A prop that has some degree of functionality, rather than being a mere imitation.

Translations

Adjective

practical (comparative more practical, superlative most practical)

1. Based on practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis

2. Being likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation; able to be put to use

3. Of a person, having skills or knowledge that are practical

4. (theater, not comparable) Of a prop: having some degree of functionality, rather than being a mere imitation.

Antonyms

• (based on practice or action): theoretical
• (likely to be effective and applicable to a real situation): impractical
• (of a person): impractical

Derived terms

• practicality
• practically

Related terms

• practicable
• practice
• practise
• practitioner
• pragmatic

Translations

Further reading

• practical in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• practical in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

profession +? -al

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p???f???n?l/

Noun

professional (plural professionals)

1. A person who belongs to a profession
2. A person who earns their living from a specified activity
3. A reputation known by name
4. 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

Adjective

professional (comparative more professional, superlative most professional)

1. Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with the (usually high) standards of a profession.

   • 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; […].
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

Catalan

Etymology

professió +? -al

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /p?o.f?.si.o?nal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /p?u.f?.si.u?nal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /p?o.fe.si.o?nal/
• 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.
• “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.

Dutch

Etymology

From English professional.

Pronunciation

Noun

professional m (plural professionals)

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

Related terms

• professionalism n