Word for Wednesday: Pupil

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This month's Word for Wednesday theme is school.

The word school comes from the Old English ‘scol’ meaning ‘place of instruction’, from the Latin ‘schola’ meaning ‘intermission of work’ and ‘leisure for learning’. The idea of children attending a school is from around 1300 and the idea of a school building is from the 1590s.

So far we’ve looked at the words semester and teacher. Today’s word is pupil. 

A pupil is a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution. The word is usually used to refer to schoolchildren. 

Pupil was the Late Middle English word for ‘orphan’ or ‘ward’ and comes from the Old French ‘pupille’, from the Latin ‘pupillus’ (boy) and ‘pupilla’ (girl). The word has been used to describe students since the 1560s. 

You may have noticed that the word pupil is also used to describe the centre of the eye. This is because of the tiny version of yourself you see reflected in the eye of someone else. 


15 Sep 2021
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Sarah Taggart, Oasis Academy Lord's Hill