'professorial' originates from Latin via English formation, specifically from the word 'professor' combined with the adjectival suffix '-ial', where Latin 'pro-' meant 'forward' and the root related to 'fateri' meant 'to confess or declare'.

'professorial' changed from Middle English borrowings of 'professor' (itself from Old French 'professeur' and Latin 'professor') and later had the English adjectival suffix '-ial' added to form the modern word 'professorial'.

Initially it meant 'pertaining to a professor'; over time it came to mean more broadly 'having the characteristics or manner of a professor', and can also carry the additional sense 'scholarly in a showy or pompous way'.