Pupil, n.
Etymology: [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.
1 more senses
Syn. -- Learner; disciple; tyro. -- See Scholar.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Pupil, n.
(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.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for pupil; he lists it under scholar.
Where he writes about it:
Pupil signifies one under the close personal supervision or instruction of a teacher or tutor. — from scholar
The word pupil is uniformly so used in the Reports of the Commissioner of Education of the United States, but popular American usage prefers scholar in the original sense; as, teachers and scholars enjoyed a holiday. — from scholar
On the other hand, student suggests less of personal supervision than pupil; thus, the college student often becomes the private pupil of some instructor in special studies. — from scholar