profile

profile n.  1. A control file for a program, esp. a text
   file automatically read from each user's home directory and
   intended to be easily modified by the user in order to customize
   the program's behavior.  Used to avoid {hardcoded} choices (see
   also {dot file}, {rc file}).  2. [techspeak] A report on the
   amounts of time spent in each routine of a program, used to find
   and {tune} away the {hot spot}s in it.  This sense is often
   verbed.  Some profiling modes report units other than time (such as
   call counts) and/or report at granularities other than per-routine,
   but the idea is similar.