English
disciple
Disciple comes from Latin discipulus ‘pupil, learner’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscipulus‘pupil, learner’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150discipul‘disciple, scholar’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500disciple
- Englishearliest quotation 1596same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiscipulus‘pupil, learner’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150discipul‘disciple, scholar’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500disciple
- Englishearliest quotation 1596same form
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto I: “fraile youth is oft to follie led, / Through…”
The story
Later influenced or superseded in Middle English by Old French deciple.
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *dis-
debate, discover, disguise, dissent, diffuse, defraud, dissuade, diss, 14 more
Today it means
noun A person who learns from another, especially one who then teaches others.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin discipulus / disciple