one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1.
any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime.
any follower of Christ.
(initial capital letter)a member of the Disciples of Christ.
a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower: a disciple of Freud.
verb (used with object),dis·ci·pled,dis·ci·pling.
Archaic. to convert into a disciple.
Obsolete. to teach; train.
Origin of disciple
before 900;Middle English < Anglo-French,Old French < Latindiscipulus, equivalent to dis-dis-1 + -cip(ere), combining form of capere to take + -ulus-ule; replacing Middle Englishdeciple < Anglo-Frenchde(s)ciple; replacing Old Englishdiscipul < Latin, as above
Related formsdis·ci·ple·like, adjectivedis·ci·ple·ship, noun
Old English discipul (fem. discipula), Biblical borrowing from Latin discipulus "pupil, student, follower," said to be from discere "to learn" [OED, Watkins], from a reduplicated form of PIE root *dek- "to take, accept" (see decent).
But according to Barnhart and Klein, from a lost compound *discipere "to grasp intellectually, analyze thoroughly," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + capere "to take, take hold of" (see capable). Cf. Latin capulus "handle" from capere. Sometimes glossed in Old English by þegn (see thane).
