pupil definition

1. A youth or scholar of either sex under the care of an instructor or tutor. "Too far in years to be a pupil now." (Shak) "Tutors should behave reverently before their pupils." (L'Estrange)

2. A person under a guardian; a ward.

3. A boy or a girl under the age of puberty, that is, under fourteen if a male, and under twelve if a female.

Synonyms: Learner, disciple, tyro. See Scholar.

Origin: F. Pupille, n. Masc. & fem, L. Pupillus, pupilla, dim. Of pupus boy, pupa girl. See Puppet, and cf. Pupil of the eye.

<anatomy> The aperture in the iris; the sight, apple, or black of the eye. See the Note under Eye, and Iris.

<medicine> Pin-hole pupil, the pupil of the eye when so contracted (as it sometimes is in typhus, or opium poisoning) as to resemble a pin hole.

Origin: F. Pupille, n. Fem, L. Pupilla the pupil of the eye, originally dim. Of pupa a girl. See Puppet, and cf. Pupil a scholar.

(01 Mar 1998)