A user profile is a succinct description of a user or class of user created as a result of user research. It usually includes basic demographics (such as educational background), role in the organisation, and other pertinent aspects. Sometimes the term is used almost synonymously with persona although by-and-large user profiles are more like a database entry with fixed fields, whereas a persona tries to create something more akin to the description of a character in a book.
The term user profile is also used to refer to the user's collection of settings, preferences, configuration, etc. in a deployed application.
Used in glossary entries: persona, user research