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A teacher at a university is still teacher or lecturer?

I'm a little bit confused in light of two different sources

The 1st source - (the book "Check Your English Vocabulary For Living In UK") says the following things:

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But on the other hand, Oxford dictionary states:

So we can see that teacher at university is still teacher, unlike what the first source says. I must to say, that some universities that I know the lecture is the one who gives the lecture in a big hall for many classes of students while a teacher is the one who responsible for examination or practical part and he works with each class separately unlike the lecturer. In your countries do you have also such distinguishing?

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  • Being called a "lecturer" doesn't prevent you from actually being a teacher... Note that the answer to 9 says "usually called a lecturer"... in fact it specifically says "a teacher is called a "lecturer""... so I'm not sure what your question is?
    – Catija
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 15:04
  • "Teacher" is a generic term for people who teach. It can also be used as a job title, which is usually reserved for teaching positions below the college level. Other job titles are used at the college level, including "lecturer". Someone who teaches in college can be referred to by their job title or generically as a teacher.
    – fixer1234
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 19:30

1 Answer 1

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Teacher: a person who teaches or instructs, especially as a profession; instructor.

Lecturer: a person who lectures; an academic rank given in colleges and universities to a teacher ranking below assistant professor.

Professor: a teacher of the highest academic rank in a college or university, who has been awarded the title Professor in a particular branch of learning; a full professor; any teacher who has the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor.

All from dictionary.com

You may look up associate professor and assistant professor on your own.

First of all - you can call anyone who teaches a teacher (or maybe an instructor). Most of the other teaching professions (professor, lecturer, etc.) are subsets of teacher.

It appears there are two different conflicting sets of definitions here, which will determine the answer to your question. The first is in casual English. In casual English, you usually call someone by what they do. If they teach in primary schools, you usually call them just a teacher (or maybe a high school teacher, if applicable). If they teach college (by the way: college means in AmE what university means in some other regions) they are usually called a professor. If they give a lot of lectures, they may also be a lecturer.

The other system is academics. I have little to no knowledge of academic rankings. However, from the above definitions, it appears that colleges have a tiered ranking system that lecturer and professor both fit in. Thus, the same words mean different things in different contexts.

Too Long; Didn't Read: (For outside of academia): If they teach you, you can call them a teacher. If they lecture you, you can call them a lecturer. If you are in college (university), you can call them a professor.

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  • Thank you 1+. Proffessor is not given to any teacher at the university, as you showed in the beginning of your answer, and as I know it personally. But the doubt is between teacher and lecturer.
    – Virtuous Legend
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 13:28
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    @VersatileandAffordable everybody is a teacher. Lecturer is someone who lectures in casual English, and a certain rank (below assistant professor) in academia.
    – Stephen S
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 13:30
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    In the British system a Professor is a person that holds a particular rank at a University and holds a particular chair.Other people teaching at the same institution may hold the rank of lecturer or reader, but these are lower status than a Professor. This Wikipedia article explains more:.en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_ranks_in_the_United_Kingdom.
    – Sarriesfan
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 13:36
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    It's not about academia or casual talk, it's more a British English Vs American English thing. A British person would not call someone without a full chair a Professor.
    – Sarriesfan
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 13:43
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    @StephenS In Britain, professor is a title (like Mr, Mrs or Dr) obtained after attaining a certain academic rank. Calling someone without a professorship a professor is like calling someone without a PhD (or MD) a doctor.
    – SteveES
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 13:56

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