The competence, skill, or character expected of a professional person. Standards of behavior, ethics, and expertise in a particular field.
From 'professional' + -ism suffix. 'Professional' comes from Latin professio 'public declaration', originally referring to someone who publicly declared their expertise in a field like law or medicine.
The concept of professionalism emerged during the Industrial Revolution when specialized knowledge became more valuable than manual labor. The 'professional class' was distinguished not just by education, but by their ethical obligations to serve the public good rather than just personal profit.
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