pupil
pupil Lexical Profile
pupil Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person, especially a child at school, who is being taught by a teacher or private tutor.
"The music teacher encouraged her most promising pupil to audition for the youth orchestra."
The dark circular opening in the center of the iris of the eye, which contracts and dilates to regulate the amount of light reaching the retina.
"The optometrist shone a small light into the patient's eye to check how quickly the pupil constricted."
British A trainee barrister who is completing a period of practical apprenticeship under an experienced barrister in chambers.
"After passing the bar examination, she spent twelve months as a pupil in a leading commercial chambers."
• Rhymes for pupil
Word Origin & Etymology
Both senses derive from Latin: the student sense comes via Old French from Latin 'pupillus' (orphan, ward, diminutive of 'pupus' meaning boy), while the anatomical sense comes from Latin 'pupilla' (little doll), so called from the tiny reflected image of oneself seen in another person's eye.