disciple

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /dɪˈsaɪ.pəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #12249

Meanings

1

noun
Someone who follows and helps spread the ideas or teachings of a leader or thinker.

He was a devoted disciple of the famous philosopher.
2

noun
One of the followers of Jesus Christ, especially the original twelve.

The painting shows Jesus surrounded by his disciples.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · someone who follows and... adherent follower

More student

Word family

Forms disciples

Derived forms condiscipledisciplelikedisciplerdiscipless

Related forms apostlediscipleshipdisciplicdiscipline

Etymology

From Middle English disciple, discipul, from Old English discipul (“disciple, scholar”), from Latin discipulus (“pupil, learner”). Later influenced or superseded in Middle English by Old French deciple.

*kap- Proto-Indo-European disciple Middle English discipul Old English discipulus Latin

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Topics

People & Society

External links

# disciple

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈsaɪ.pəl/
**Frequency rank:** 12249

## Meanings
1. Someone who follows and helps spread the ideas or teachings of a leader or thinker.
2. One of the followers of Jesus Christ, especially the original twelve.

## Examples
- He was a devoted disciple of the famous philosopher.
- The painting shows Jesus surrounded by his disciples.

## Synonyms
- student

## Derived Forms
- condisciple
- disciplelike
- discipler
- discipless

## Related Forms
- apostle
- discipleship
- disciplic
- discipline

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kap-
- Root: disciple
- Root: discipul
- Root: discipulus

## Etymology
From Middle English disciple, discipul, from Old English discipul (“disciple, scholar”), from Latin discipulus (“pupil, learner”). Later influenced or superseded in Middle English by Old French deciple.

## AI Etymology
disciple comes from Middle English disciple, discipul, from Old English discipul (“disciple, scholar”), from Latin discipulus (“pupil, learner”). Later influenced or superseded in Middle English by Old French deciple. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *kap-, Middle English disciple, Old English discipul, Latin discipulus. Current senses include Someone who follows and helps spread the ideas or teachings of a leader or thinker and One of the followers of Jesus Christ, especially the original twelve. English relatives and later formations include condisciple, disciplelike, discipler, apostle, discipleship.

## Topics
- People & Society

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