student

American  

[stood-nt, styood-] / ˈstud nt, ˈstyud- /

noun

1. a person formally engaged in learning, especially one enrolled in a school or college; pupil.

   a student at Yale.

2. any person who studies, investigates, or examines thoughtfully.

   a student of human nature.

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student British  

/ ˈstjuːdənt /

noun

1. 1. a person following a course of study, as in a school, college, university, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      student teacher

2. a person who makes a thorough study of a subject

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Pronunciation

See new.

Usage

Where does student come from? The word student entered English around 1350–1400. It ultimately derives from the Latin studēre. The meaning of this verb is one we think will resonate with a lot of actual students out there: “to take pains.” No, we’re not making this up: a student, etymologically speaking, can be understood a “pains-taker”!In Latin, studēre had many other senses, though, and ones that some students may have a harder time relating to. Studēre could also mean “to desire, be eager for, be enthusiastic about, busy oneself with, apply oneself to, be diligent, pursue, study.” The underlying idea of student, then, is about striving—for new knowledge and abilities. It’s about that mix of hard work and passion. Isn’t that inspirational?Dig deeperWe don’t think you have to be a student of etymology to make the connection between student and study. Like student, the verb study also comes from the Latin studēre. The noun study—as in The scientists conducted a sleep study or Her favorite room of her house is the study—is also related to studēre and is more immediately derived from the Latin noun studium, meaning “zeal, inclination,” among other senses. But not all connections between words are so obvious. Consider student and tweezers. Would you have guessed this unlikely pair of words share a common root? Let’s, um, pick this apart.Tweezers are small pincers or nippers for plucking our hairs, extracting splinters, picking up small objects, and so forth. The word entered English in the mid-1600s, based on tweeze, an obsolete noun meaning “case of surgical instruments,” which contained what we now call tweezers.Losing its initial E along the way, tweeze comes from etweese, which is an English rendering of the French etui, a type of small case used to hold needles, cosmetic instruments, and the like. Etui can ultimately be traced back to the Latin stūdiāre, “to treat with care,” related to the same studēre. This is how student is related to, of all things, tweezers.

Related Words

See pupil ¹.

Other Word Forms

• antistudent noun
• nonstudent noun
• studentless adjective
• studentlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of student

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin student- (stem of studēns ), present participle of studēre “to take pains”; -ent; replacing Middle English studiant, aphetic variant of estudiant, from Old French, noun use of present participle of estudier “to devote oneself to, study” ( study

Compare meaning

How does student compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• teacher vs. student

Example Sentences

In the new study, Matthew Nelson, a graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, found an unexpected connection between these two problems.

From Science Daily

"The coherence of the light in such a laser-cavity-system was the starting point of our calculations," says Max Schrauwen, a bachelor's student involved in the study.

From Science Daily

He estimates that he and his partner have invested around $100,000 combined in their business, PrepU, which helps college students with career placement.

From The Wall Street Journal

Editor’s note: In this Future View, students discuss memorable Christmas gifts.

From The Wall Street Journal

Department of Education will begin garnishing wages from approximately 1,000 defaulted student loan borrowers early next year.

From Barron's

Related Words

• graduate
• junior
• pupil
• scholar
• undergraduate