Etymologically
Log in

pupil

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word pupil

English has two nouns spelled pupil, a student and the opening in the eye; both come through French from Latin diminutives of pūpus "boy" and pūpa "girl, doll", but they were borrowed separately.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • /ˈpjuːpəl/, /ˈpj̥uːpəɫ/[4]

pupil1 student

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1384, Wycliffite Bible
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman pupille
Ultimate origin
Latin pūpus

Etymology

The student is borrowed from Anglo-Norman pupille and pupille, an orphan who is a minor and therefore a ward, recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1327,[3][5][6] and also directly from Latin pūpillus (“orphan, ward, minor”) (feminine pūpilla),[3][7][6] a diminutive of pūpus (“boy”) (feminine pūpa (“girl”)).[6][8][9] Merriam-Webster and Barnhart consider pūpus probably related to puer (“boy, child”), and Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *pau- (“few, little”).[10][7][6] Weekley called pūpus and pūpa baby words, of the same type as papa.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

An orphan who is a minor and so a ward: c. 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible ("To visit pupilles and widewes in her tribulacioun").[3][11] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1384 and the late 14th century.[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense of a ward survives in civil law, and in Scots law pupil is a boy under 14 or a girl under 12 who is in the care of a guardian.[3][12][9] In the 16th century the word acquired its usual meaning, a person being taught by another; the OED's first example is from Thomas Elyot in 1531, and Barnhart dates the sense to 1563.[3][7][1] Weekley notes that the original sense, still alive in French, survives in English pupilage.[11] From 1832 a pupil is also a trainee barrister undergoing pupillage.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – an orphan who is a ward.[3][7]
  • 1531 – a person taught by another, a student.[3]
  • 1599 – the verb, to teach as a pupil (obsolete).[3]
  • 1832 – a trainee barrister.[3]
  • 1839–40 – the pupil-teacher system is introduced from Holland.[11]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person, especially a child, who is taught at school or by a private teacher; a student.
  2. A person who has studied under a famous master; a disciple.
  3. (civil law, Scots law) A boy under 14 or a girl under 12 who is in the care of a guardian.
  4. (law) A trainee barrister.

Word family

  • pupillage

pupil2 opening in the eye

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
?a1425, translation of Guy de Chauliac
Borrowed from
Middle French pupille
Ultimate origin
Latin pūpa

Etymology

The opening in the eye is borrowed from Middle French pupille, recorded in French from 1314,[3][8] and also directly from Latin pūpilla,[3][13][7] a diminutive of pūpa (“girl, doll”).[6][10][9] It was so called from the tiny reflected image, like a little doll, that one sees of oneself in another person's eye.[6][7][1][14] Klein explains the Latin use as a loan translation of Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “girl; pupil of the eye”).[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

The opening in the iris through which light enters the eye: ?a1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.[3] Barnhart finds pupilla, a Latinate form, in English in 1392 and pupille before 1400.[7]

Semantic evolution

From 1599 it was also used in extended senses.[3] Since 1826 entomologists have used it for the central spot of an eye-like mark on a butterfly's or moth's wing.[3][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as "the apple of the eye".[16] Weekley compares the old English phrase "look babies in one another's eyes", from the same reflected images.[11]

Timeline

  • 1392 – pupilla, a Latinate form, in English.[7]
  • ?a1425 – the opening in the iris of the eye.[3]
  • 1599 – in extended use.[3]
  • 1826 – the centre of an eye-spot on an insect's wing.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The dark round opening in the centre of the iris through which light enters the eye.
  2. (zoology) The central spot of an eye-like marking, as on a butterfly's wing.

Word family

  • pupillary

References

  1. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  2. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b c d e Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  15. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pupil.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/pupil. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·