disciple

[dih-sahy-puhl]

noun

1. a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower.

   a disciple of Freud.

2. Religion.

   1. one of the 12 personal followers of Christ.

   2. one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1.

   3. any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime.

3. any follower of Christ.

4. Disciple, a member of the Disciples of Christ.

verb (used with object)

discipled, discipling 

1. Archaic.,  to convert into a disciple.

2. Obsolete.,  to teach; train.

disciple

/ dɪˈsaɪpəl, dɪˈsɪpjʊlə /

noun

1. a follower of the doctrines of a teacher or a school of thought

2. one of the personal followers of Christ (including his 12 apostles) during his earthly life

Other Word Forms

• disciplelike adjective
• discipleship noun
• discipular adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of disciple¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin discipulus, equivalent to dis- dis- ¹ + -cip(ere), combining form of capere “to take” + -ulus -ule; replacing Middle English deciple, from Anglo-French de(s)ciple; replacing Old English discipul, from Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of disciple¹

Old English discipul, from Latin discipulus pupil, from discere to learn

Synonym Study

See pupil ¹.

Example Sentences

His intellectual bravado has always attracted disciples and acolytes, notably his cultlike following at Cambridge, where he taught in the 1930s and ’40s.

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This is the case not only with Woolf, Joyce and Stein, but with Ezra Pound and his many disciples, who include T.S.

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They both are afraid they’re going to get a challenge in their next reelect from a Marxist, a disciple of Mamdani… And so they cannot yield.

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The first Sunday service after the arrests, streamed from pastors outside the mainland, included a meditation on the biblical account of Stephen, the first-century disciple stoned to death for his faith.

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I suspect a lot of this is fed to him by his loyal disciples — and probably some not-so-loyal adversaries.

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Related Words

• adherent 
• apostle 
• cohort 
• devotee 
• enthusiast 
• fanatic 
• learner 
• pupil 
• zealot