disciple
Americannoun
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disciples
plural
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a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower.
a disciple of Freud.
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Religion.
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one of the 12 personal followers of Christ.
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one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1.
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any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime.
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any follower of Christ.
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Disciple, a member of the Disciples of Christ.
verb (used with object)
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Archaic. to convert into a disciple.
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Obsolete. to teach; train.
noun
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a follower of the doctrines of a teacher or a school of thought
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one of the personal followers of Christ (including his 12 apostles) during his earthly life
Synonym Usage
See pupil 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of disciple
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
Explanation
A disciple is a follower or a fan of someone. You might consider yourself to be a disciple of your favorite yoga teacher. The noun disciple comes from the Latin word discipulus, which means "student, learner, or follower." One of the earliest places disciple showed up was in the Bible, where it means "a follower of Jesus," sometimes specifically one of the twelve Apostles. It's still used that way in religious speech and writing, but it can also describe a serious, dedicated follower or student of a teacher or leader.
Vocabulary lists containing disciple
Persepolis
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The Poet X
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She was a disciple of the anatomy-based, apparatus-free gymnastics 'Swedish system', and this specialism defined her teaching.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Back home, Pulte’s circle included another Coe disciple, a Michigan business leader named Mike Timmis, who facilitated Fellowship mission work known as Cornerstone Development in Uganda.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
He is a disciple of lean management techniques developed in Japan that focus on collaboration and continuous improvement.
From Barron's ● May 7, 2026
The letter is a road map for helping Catholics grow as disciples and then become disciple makers themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
In Florence, however, Galileo’s disciple Torricelli heard in 1643 of Berti’s experiments and realized that he could simplify matters by using a denser liquid.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
His book, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783, published in 1890, found disciples in Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the Japanese imperial naval ministry, and shaped 20th-century history.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
The 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple - located on a mountain range - attracts thousands of disciples from China and elsewhere every year.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
It and “The Faithful” join “The Chosen,” the story of Jesus and his disciples now in its fifth season, along with “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints,” a Fox Nation production.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026
We are called to be missionary disciples who go out and make disciples.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
Jesus tells his disciples that if they follow his teachings, “Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shall follow me afterward.”
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
“I mean, we’re being taught and discipled by so many other communities outside the church, that we’re being malformed in many ways.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 2, 2021
“They’re often being discipled by the blogosphere and by the latest, greatest celebrity,” Prior told me.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 8, 2019
The other is slower, slope-shouldered & discipled, backgrounded by a blandished brain.
From Unmanned by Stephen Oliver
We begin to talk also of many other things concerning the discipled natives.
From Life of William Carey by George Smith
He preached, he taught, he "discipled" in every form then reasonable and possible, and in the fullest sense of his Master's missionary charge.
From Life of William Carey by George Smith
“The church needs to do a better job in discipling these celebrities when they become interested in the teachings of Jesus Christ,” Fisher said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2022
About a third of Americans do freelance work, according to a study commissioned by the Freelancer’s Union, and rating systems are extremely effective at organizing and discipling them.
From The Verge ● Oct. 28, 2015
Hammered by defectors and opponents, the Boston Church admits some disciplers may have gone too far and says it will "readjust" its discipling practices.
From Time Magazine Archive
Who will tarry in Jerusalem awaiting the coming Spirit, and then, the Comforter having come, be ready to "Go into all the world, discipling all nations"?
From The Heart-Cry of Jesus by Byron J. (Byron Johnson) Rees
Our Lord's command was world-embracing in its extent; it was a discipling of all nations; it was a call to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth.
From India's Problem, Krishna or Christ by John P. (John Peter) Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
