profile

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpɹoʊfaɪl/ UK /ˈpɹəʊfaɪl/ See IPA manual

Freq #3535

Meanings

1

noun
A short description of a person's life, character, or career.

The magazine ran a profile of the young actor.
2

noun
The outline of a person's face seen from the side.

The coin shows the queen's profile.
3

noun
The amount of public attention something or someone receives.

She kept a low profile after the scandal.
4

noun
A set of information that describes someone or something.

The doctor reviewed a profile of my blood test results.
5

verb
To write a short description of someone's life or career.

The journalist profiled several famous painters for the exhibition.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · the outline of a person's... contour

3 noun · the amount of public... visibility

Word family

Forms profiledprofilesprofiling

Derived forms geoprofileglycoprofilehigh-profileimmunoprofilelow-profilemicroprofileprofilableprofileeprofilistprofilographprofilometerprofilometric

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

biochemical profile
a set of measurements describing chemical substances in a biological sample

Adjective + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

keep a low profile
to avoid notice or publicity by behaving discreetly

Etymology

From French profil, from Italian profilo (“a border”), later also proffilo (“a side-face, profile”), from Latin pro (“before”) + filo (“a line, stroke, thread”), from filum (“a thread”); see file. Doublet of purfle.

profil French profilo Italian pro Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# profile

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɹoʊfaɪl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɹəʊfaɪl/
**Frequency rank:** 3535

## Meanings
1. A short description of a person's life, character, or career.
2. The outline of a person's face seen from the side.
3. The amount of public attention something or someone receives.
4. A set of information that describes someone or something.
5. To write a short description of someone's life or career.

## Examples
- The magazine ran a profile of the young actor.
- The coin shows the queen's profile.
- She kept a low profile after the scandal.
- The doctor reviewed a profile of my blood test results.
- The journalist profiled several famous painters for the exhibition.

## Derived Forms
- geoprofile
- glycoprofile
- high-profile
- immunoprofile
- low-profile
- microprofile
- profilable
- profilee
- profilist
- profilograph
- profilometer
- profilometric

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: profil
- Root: profilo
- Root: pro

## Etymology
From French profil, from Italian profilo (“a border”), later also proffilo (“a side-face, profile”), from Latin pro (“before”) + filo (“a line, stroke, thread”), from filum (“a thread”); see file. Doublet of purfle.

## AI Etymology
Profile comes from French profil, from Italian profilo (“a border”), later also proffilo (“a side-face, profile”), from Latin pro (“before”) + filo (“a line, stroke, thread”), from filum (“a thread”); see file. Doublet of purfle. In present-day English it covers a short description of a person's life, character, or career, the outline of a person's face seen from the side, and the amount of public attention something or someone receives. The wider family includes derived forms such as geoprofile, glycoprofile, high-profile, immunoprofile, low-profile.

## Topics
- People & Society

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