athlete vs professional

athlete

noun
  • A person who actively participates in physical sports, especially with great skill; a sportsperson. 

  • An exceptionally physically fit person. 

  • A participant in a group of sporting activities which includes track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking. 

  • She's the first athlete in her sport to obtain a corporate sponsor. 

professional

noun
  • A person who belongs to a profession 

  • A reputation known by name 

  • A prostitute 

  • An expert 

  • One of four categories of sociologist propounded by Horowitz: a sociologist who is actively concerned with promoting the profession of sociology. 

  • A person who earns their living from a specified activity 

adj
  • Expert. 

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

  • That is carried out for money, especially as a livelihood. 

How often have the words athlete and professional occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )