- 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.
- pupil (2)
- "center of the eye," 1660s (in L. form from late 14c.), from O.Fr. pupille (14c.), from L. pupilla, originally "little girl-doll," dim. of pupa "girl, doll" (see pupil (1)), so called from the tiny image one sees of himself reflected in the eye of another. Gk. is said also to have used the same word, kore (lit. "girl"), to mean both "doll" and "pupil of the eye;" and cf. obsolete baby "small image of oneself in another's pupil" (1590s), source of 17c. colloquial expression to look babies "stare lovingly into another's eyes."
"Self-knowledge can be obtained only by looking into the mind and virtue of the soul, which is the diviner part of a man, as we see our own image in another’s eye." [Plato, "Alcibiades," I.133]