Can anyone tell me how "pupil" came to mean aperture of iris of eye, and a child attending school? The roots are t;he same.


Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Definition: \Pu"pil\, n. [F. pupille, n. fem., L. pupilla the pupil of
the eye, originally dim. of pupa a girl. See {Puppet}, and
cf. {Pupil} a scholar.] (Anat.)
The aperture in the iris; the sight, apple, or black of the
eye. See the Note under {Eye}, and {Iris}.

{Pin-hole pupil} (Med.), the pupil of the eye when so
contracted (as it sometimes is in typhus, or opium
poisoning) as to resemble a pin hole. --Dunglison.


\Pu"pil\, n. [F. pupille, n. masc. & fem., L. pupillus,
pupilla, dim. of pupus boy, pupa girl. See {Puppet}, and cf.
{Pupil} of the eye.]
1. A youth or scholar of either sex under the care of an
instructor or tutor.

Too far in years to be a pupil now. --Shak.

Tutors should behave reverently before their pupils.
--L'Estrange.

2. A person under a guardian; a ward. --Dryden.

3. (Civil Law) A boy or a girl under the age of puberty, that
is, under fourteen if a male, and under twelve if a
female.

Syn: Learner; disciple; tyro. -- See {Scholar}.