Late Middle English (in the sense 'orphan, ward'): from Old French pupille, from Latin pupillus (diminutive of pupus 'boy') and pupilla (diminutive of pupa 'girl').

• The two words spelled pupil have entered English by different routes and acquired very different meanings, but they share a root, Latin pupa, which meant both ‘doll’ and ‘girl’. The first pupil was originally an orphan or ward under the care of a guardian, from which emerged the idea of someone taught by another. It came into English via Old French from Latin pupus ‘boy’ and pupa ‘girl’. The other pupil, the round opening in the centre of your eye, comes from the ‘doll’ meaning of pupa. People must have noticed the tiny images of themselves reflected in another person's eyes and thought they resembled little dolls (a similar idea is behind an old use of baby). In the 18th century pupa was borrowed directly from Latin as a term for an insect in its inactive immature form, between larva and adult.

Late Middle English: from Old French pupille or Latin pupilla, diminutive of pupa 'doll' (so named from the tiny reflected images visible in the eye).