Online Etymology Dictionary

student: late 14c., from O.Fr. estudient "one who is studying," from M.L. studiare "to study," from L. studium (see study). Student-teacher is attested from 1907.
pupil (1): "student," 1382, originally "orphan child, ward," from O.Fr. pupille (14c.), from L. pupillus (fem. pupilla) "orphan, ward, minor," dim. of pupus "boy" (fem. pupa "girl"), probably related to puer "child," probably from PIE *pup-, from base *pu- "to swell, inflate." Meaning "disciple, student" first recorded 1563.
baccalaureate: 1620s, "university degree of a bachelor," from M.L. baccalaureus "student with the first degree," altered by a play on words with bacca lauri "laurel berry" (laurels being awarded for academic success). The M.L. word perhaps ultimately is derived from L. baculum "staff" (see bacillus), which the young student might carry, but it is more likely just a re-Latinization of bachelor (q.v.) in its academic sense. In modern U.S. usage, the word usually is short for baccalaureate-sermon (1864), a religious farewell address to the graduating class.
sit-in: 1936, in ref. to session musicians; 1937, in ref. to union action; 1941, in ref. to student protests.
humbug: 1751, student slang, "trick, jest, hoax, deception," of unknown origin.
senior: late 13c., from L. senior "older," comparative of senex (gen. senis) "old," from PIE base *sen- (see senile). Original use in English was as addition to a personal name when father and son had the same name; meaning "higher in rank, longer in service" first recorded 1510s. The L. word yielded titles of respect in many languages, cf. Fr. sire, Sp. señor, It. signor. Noun sense of "fourth-year student" is from 1741, from earlier general sense of "advanced student" (1610s). Seniority "priority on office or service" is from mid-15c. Senior citizen first recorded 1938, Amer.Eng.
cadet: c.1610, "younger son or brother," from Fr. cadet "military student officer," also, as an adj., "younger" (15c.), from Gascon capdet "captain, chief, youth of a noble family," from L.L. capitellum, lit. "little chief," hence, "inferior head of a family," dim. of L. caput "head" (see head). Younger sons from Gascon noble families apparently were sent to French court to serve as officers, which gave the word its military meaning. In English, the meaning "gentleman entering the military as a profession" is from 1650s, and that of "student at a military college" is from 1775.
naturalist: "student of plants and animals," 1600, from natural (q.v.).
frat: student slang shortening of fraternity, by 1895.
zip (n.): "zero," 1900, student slang for a grade of zero on a test, etc.; of unknown origin; cf. zilch.
frosh: student colloquial shortening and alteration of freshman, attested by 1915.
dweeb: 1968, U.S. college student slang, probably a variant of feeb "feeble person."
cute: 1731, shortening of acute; informal sense of "pretty" is 1834, Amer.Eng. student slang.
prom: "student formal dance in celebration of graduation," 1894, Amer.Eng. shortened form of promenade (q.v.).
snick: 1962, Amer.Eng., from common pronunciation of SNCC, acronym for "Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee," black civil rights organization.
economist: 1580s, "household manager;" 1804 meaning "student of political economy" (see economy).
Black Panther: 1965, the movement an outgrowth of Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee. Black power is from 1966, associated with Stokely Carmichael.
grind: O.E. grindan, forgrindan "destroy by crushing" (class III strong verb; past tense grand, pp. grunden), from P.Gmc. *grindanan (cf. Du. grenden), related to ground, from PIE *ghrendh- "crushing" (cf. L. frendere "to gnash the teeth," Gk. khondros "corn, grain," Lith. grendu "to scrape, scratch"). The noun sense "steady, hard work" first recorded 1851 in college student slang; the meaning "hard-working student" is Amer.Eng. slang from 1864. Grinder as a type of large sandwich is first recorded 1954. To keep one's nose to the grindstone was originally to get control of another and treat him harshly:
"This Text holdeth their noses so hard to the grindstone, that it clean disfigureth their Faces." [Frith, "Mirror to know Thyself," 1532]
The main modern (reflective) sense of "work hard" is from 1828.
loser: "a destroyer," mid-14c., from lose (q.v.). Sense of "one who suffers loss" is from 1540s; meaning "horse that loses a race" is from 1902; "convicted criminal" is from 1912; "hapless person" is 1955 student slang.
Taliban: Sunni fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan, Pashto pl. of Arabic tālib "student;" so called because it originated among students in Pakistani religious schools. Group formed c.1993. Often incorrectly treated as singular in English.
dork: "stupid person," 1967, originally U.S. student slang, probably from earlier meaning "penis" (1964), itself probably an alteration of dick. Related: Dorky.
co-ed: 1886, Amer.Eng., (first in Louisa Mae Alcott's "Jo's Boys"); short for "co-educational system;" 1889 as an adj., short for coeducational; 1893 as a noun meaning "girl or woman student at a co-educational institution."
crony: 1660s, Cambridge student slang, probably from Gk. khronios "long-lasting," from khronos "time," and with a sense of "old friend," or "contemporary."
cram: O.E. crammian "press something into something else," from P.Gmc. base *kram-/*krem-. Meaning "study intensely for an exam" is British student slang first recorded 1803.
buzzword: 1946, from buzz + word. Noted as student slang for the key words in a lecture or reading.
crunchy: 1892, from crunch. Student slang sense of "annoyingly intense about health or environmental issues" is 1980s, short for crunchy granola; not entirely pejorative at first.
barrister: 1540s, "a student of law who has been called to the bar," from bar (3) in the legal sense. Also see attorney.
twerp: of unknown origin; the "Dictionary of American Slang" gives a first reference of 1874 (but without citation), which, if correct, would rule out the usual theory that it is from the proper name of T.W. Earp, a student at Oxford c.1911, who kindled wrath "in the hearts of the rugger-playing stalwarts at Oxford, when he was president of the Union, by being the last, most charming, and wittiest of the 'decadents.' "
bent (1): "mental inclination," 1570s, from the adj., "not straight" (late 14c.), originally pp. of bend. The verb meaning "directed in a course" is from 1690s. Phrase bent out of shape "extremely upset" is 1960s Air Force and college student slang.
doofus: student slang, "dolt, idiot, nerd," by 1960s. "Dictionary of American Slang" says "probably related to doo-doo and goofus," which isn't very helpful.
freshman: mid-16c., "newcomer, novice," from fresh (1) + man (n.). Sense of "university student in first year" is attested from 1590s. Related: Freshmen.
medic: 1659, "physician, medical student," from L. medicus "physician" (see medical); modern sense of "serviceman in a military medical corps" first recorded 1925.
linguist: 1580s, "a master of language, one who uses his tongue freely," from L. lingua "language, tongue" (see lingual). Meaning "a student of language" first attested 1640s.
haze (v.): "subject to cruel horseplay," 1850, Amer.Eng. student slang, from earlier nautical sense of "punish by keeping at unpleasant and unnecessary hard work" (1840), perhaps from hawze "terrify, frighten, confound" (1670s), from M.Fr. haser "irritate, annoy" (mid-15c.), of unknown origin.
bone (v.): Especially in bone up "study," 1880s student slang, probably from "Bohn's Classical Library," a popular series in higher education published by German-born Eng. publisher Henry George Bohn (1796–1884) as part of a broad series of "libraries" he issued from 1846, totaling 766 volumes, continued after 1864 by G. Bell & Sons.
crud: "nonsense, rubbish," 1940, U.S. slang; originally 1920s army and college student slang for "venereal disease." Said to be a metathesis variant of curd, which actually makes it an unconscious return to the original M.E. form of that word (see curd). As G.I. name for "disease of any and every sort" it is attested from 1945.
potty (n.): 1942, child's word for "chamber pot," from pot (1). Potty-training is attested from 1958. Potty-mouth "one who uses obscene language" is student slang from 1968.
lam: "flight," as in on the lam, 1897, from a U.S. slang verb meaning "to run off" (1886), of uncertain origin, perhaps somehow from the first element of lambaste, which was used in British student slang for "beat" since 1596; if so, it would give the word the same etymological sense as beat it.
nerd: 1951, U.S. student slang, probably an alteration of 1940s slang nert "stupid or crazy person," itself an alteration of nut. The word turns up in a Dr. Seuss book from 1950 ("If I Ran the Zoo"), which may have contributed to its rise. Adjective nerdy is from 1978.
stooge: 1913, "stage assistant," of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of student (with the mispronunciation STOO-jent), in sense of "apprentice." Meaning "lackey, person used for another's purpose" first recorded 1937, perhaps influenced by the Three Stooges film comedy act, which had been appearing in movies since 1930, starting as "Ted Healy and His Stooges."
footer: c.1600, “pedestrian;” 1781, “a kick at football;” 1863, British student slang, “the game of football;” see foot, football, -er.
punt (1): "kick," 1845 (n. and v.), first in a Rugby list of football rules, perhaps from dialectal punt "to push, strike," alteration of Midlands dial. bunt "to push, butt with the head," of unknown origin, perhaps echoic. Student slang meaning "give up, drop a course so as not to fail," 1970s, is because a U.S. football team punts when it cannot advance the ball.
psych: short for psychology in various senses; as an academic study, in student slang by 1895. The verb is generally negative when used transitively, positive when intransitive; first attested (also psych out) 1934 as "to outsmart," from 1963 as "to unnerve." However to psych (oneself) up is from 1972; to be psyched up is attested from 1968.
butthead: 1980s, student slang, "objectionable person," from butt (n.1) + head; perhaps influenced by butterhead, 1960s black slang for one who is a disgrace to the community. Earlier, butthead meant simply "the butt end, bottom" of anything (1630s).
bachelorette: 1935, from bachelor with Fr. ending -ette. Replaced earlier bachelor-girl (1895). M.Fr. had bachelette "young girl;" Mod.Fr. bachelière is found only in the "student" sense.
dunce: 1577, from earlier Duns disciple "follower of John Duns Scotus" (c. 1265-1308), Scot. scholar of philosophy and theology supposed to have been born at Duns in Berwickshire. By 16c., humanist reaction against medieval theology singled him out as the type of the hairsplitting scholastic. It became a term of reproach to more conservative philosophical opponents c.1527, later extended to any dull-witted student.
lesson: early 13c., "a reading aloud from the Bible," also "something to be learned by a student," from O.Fr. leçon, from L. lectionem (nom. lectio) "a reading," from lectus, pp. of legere "to read" (see lecture). Transf. sense of "an occurrence from which something can be learned" is from 1580s.
genealogy: c.1300, from O.Fr. genealogie, from L.L. genealogia "tracing of a family," from Gk. genealogia, from genea "generation, descent" (see genus) + logos "student of."
brunch: 1896, British student slang merger of breakfast and lunch.
"To be fashionable nowadays we must 'brunch'. Truly an excellent portmanteau word, introduced, by the way, last year, by Mr. Guy Beringer, in the now defunct Hunter's Weekly, and indicating a combined breakfast and lunch." ["Punch," Aug. 1, 1896]
philistine: "person deficient in liberal culture," 1827, originally in Carlyle, popularized by him and Matthew Arnold, from Ger. Philister "enemy of God's word," lit. "Philistine," inhabitants of a Biblical land, neighbors (and enemies) of Israel (see Philistine). Popularized in Ger. student slang (supposedly first in Jena, late 17c.) as a contemptuous term for "townies," and hence, by extension, "any uncultured person." Philistine had been used in a humorous fig. sense of "the enemy" in Eng. from c.1600.