Pupil

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpjuːpəl/

Definitions

1. A student, especially one attending school at the elementary or secondary level
2. A young learner receiving instruction at school ; the dark circular opening in the center of the eye that adjusts size to control light intake
3. An individual in school, typically a child or teenager ; the round aperture in the eye that regulates the amount of light reaching the retina

Etymology: The school sense of "pupil" comes from the same Latin word as the eye sense, but through a detour that changed its meaning entirely. Latin "pūpillus" meant "orphan" or "minor", a child under a guardian's legal protection, and that legal sense passed into Anglo-Norman as "pupille" before reaching English in the Middle Ages. The idea behind it was simply a young person in someone else's care, and the school sense grew naturally from there. The eye sense has a separate and charming origin. Latin "pūpilla", a diminutive of "pūpa" meaning "girl" or "doll", was applied to the tiny reflection you see when you look into someone's eye, a miniature person staring back. English borrowed this through Old French as "pupille", so the two senses of the modern word are different borrowings that happen to be spelled alike.

Synonyms: student, learner, scholar

Antonyms: teacher, instructor