pupil

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjuːpəl/
• Hyphenation: pu‧pil

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːpəl
• Homophone: pupal

From Middle English pupille, from Anglo-Norman pupille (“orphan”), from Latin pūpillus (“orphan, minor”), variant of pūpulus (“little boy”), from pūpus (“child, boy”).

pupil (plural pupils)

2. (dated outside UK) A learner at a school under the supervision of a teacher.
   • 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575

     The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Diſcharge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiſh the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conſequently of all the reſt, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Diſcharged as to one, and ſtand as to all the reſt.

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 269, about a school in Lower Peover:

     The bell which called the pupils to their lessons can still be seen on the roof.

   • 2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:

     Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.

3. One who studies under supervision of a renowned expert in their field.

   Plato was Socrates' pupil, and in turn Aristotle was Plato's pupil.

   • 2010, Plato, “Euthyphro”, in Christopher Rowe, transl., The Last Days of Socrates, Penguin Books Ltd., →ISBN, line 9b:

     I understand; it’s because I seem to you to be a worse pupil than the judges in court, because obviously you’ll demonstrate to them that the sorts of things your father did are unjust and hated by all the gods.

4. (law, obsolete) An orphan who is a minor and under the protection of the state.

• A pupil is typically a young person, such as a schoolchild. Older learners, e.g. at university, are generally called students.

• learnling

From Middle English pupille, from Old French pupille, from Latin pūpilla (“pupil; little girl, doll”), named because of the small reflected image seen when looking into someone's eye.

pupil (plural pupils)

2. (anatomy) The hole in the middle of the iris of the eye, through which light passes to be focused on the retina.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 29:

     There are sharks with round pupils, sharks with slitlike pupils, and some with pupils that expand and contract with the amount of light available. As unimpressive as this might sound to people who are used to having their pupils dilate and contract regularly, realize that no bony fish has this modification of the eye.

3. (zoology) The central dark part of an ocellated spot.

• Pupil in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• pipul

Borrowed from Latin pūpillus. Doublet of pubill.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [puˈpil]

pupil m (plural pupils, feminine pupil·la, feminine plural pupil·les)

1. orphan

   Synonym: orfe

• “pupil”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “pupil”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “pupil” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “pupil” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin pūpilla (“little girl”), diminutive of pūpa (“girl”).

• IPA^(key): /pupil/, [pʰuˈpʰilˀ]

pupil c (singular definite pupillen, plural indefinite pupiller)

1. pupil (the hole in the middle of the iris of the eye)

• “pupil” in Den Danske Ordbog

• IPA^(key): /pyˈpɪl/
• Hyphenation: pu‧pil
• Rhymes: -ɪl

From Middle Dutch pupille, from Old French pupille, from Latin pūpilla.

pupil f (plural pupillen, diminutive pupilletje n)

1. pupil (aperture of the eye)

   Synonym: oogappel

Borrowed from Middle French pupille, from Latin pūpillus.

pupil m (plural pupillen, diminutive pupilletje n)

1. (chiefly sports) minor, generally a prepubescent child over the age of 5
2. favoured student, protégé
3. institutionalised pupil (one who receives an upbringing or education in an institution)
4. (archaic) orphan

   Synonym: wees

Borrowed from English pupil, from Middle French pupille, from Latin pūpilla (“pupil; little girl, doll”).

• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /pupel/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /pupɪl/
• Rhymes: -upel, -pel, -el

pupil (Jawi spelling ڤوڤيل, plural pupil-pupil)

1. (anatomy) pupil (the hole in the middle of the iris of the eye)

• anak mata / انق مات

Borrowed from French pupille.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpu.pil/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -upil
• Syllabification: pu‧pil

pupil m pers (female equivalent pupilka, diminutive pupilek, related adjective pupilarny)

1. favorite son, favored student, protégé, teacher's pet (student who is perceived to be favored by the teacher)

   Synonym: beniaminek

   Hypernym: faworyt

2. (archaic, education) pupil (learner at a school under the supervision of a teacher)

pupil m animal (female equivalent pupilka)

1. pet (animal kept as a companion)

• pupil in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• pupil in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French pupille, from Latin pupillus.

pupil m (plural pupili)

1. pupil