Other forms: disciples
A disciple is a close follower who learns from a teacher. The twelve disciples, a disciple of Freud, gather disciples.
It implies learning as well as following, which is what separates it from a supporter. In Christian use the disciples are the followers of Jesus and the apostles are those sent out, and the two overlap without being the same. The Latin means a pupil.
1noundiscipleA close follower who learns from a teacher.
“The old master sat under a tree, surrounded by his disciples.”
disciple is a follower.
Latin discipulus means a pupil, from discere, to learn. Discipline is the same root.
Proto-Indo-European
*kap-
Latin
discipulus — pupil, learner
Old English
discipul — disciple, scholar
Middle English
disciple
English, today
disciple
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 Later influenced or superseded in Middle English by Old French deciple.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA