Adjacent Words

Disciple definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISCIPLE, n. [L., to learn.]
1. A learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive instruction from another; as the disciples of Plato.
2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another. Hence the constant attendants of Christ were called his disciples; and hence all Christians are called his disciples, as they profess to learn and receive his doctrines and precepts.
DISCIPLE, v.t.
1. To teach; to train, or bring up.
2. To make disciples of; to convert to doctrines or principles.
This authority he employed in sending missionaries to disciple all nations.
3. To punish; to discipline. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone who believes and helps to spread the doctrine of another [syn: disciple, adherent]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English discipul & Anglo-French disciple, from Late Latin and Latin; Late Latin discipulus follower of Jesus Christ in his lifetime, from Latin, pupil Date: before 12th century 1. one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: as a. one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accounts b. a convinced adherent of a school or individual 2. capitalized a member of the Disciples of Christ founded in the United States in 1809 that holds the Bible alone to be the rule of faith and practice, usually baptizes by immersion, and has a congregational polity Synonyms: see follower • discipleship noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a follower or pupil of a leader, teacher, philosophy, etc. (a disciple of Zen Buddhism). 2 any early believer in Christ, esp. one of the twelve Apostles. Derivatives: discipleship n. discipular adj. Etymology: OE discipul f. L discipulus f. discere learn

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Disciple Dis*ci"ple, n. [OE. disciple, deciple, OF. disciple, fr. L. discipulus, fr. discere to learn (akin to docere to teach; see Docile) + prob. a root meaning to turn or drive, as in L. pellere to drive (see Pulse).] One who receives instruction from another; a scholar; a learner; especially, a follower who has learned to believe in the truth of the doctrine of his teacher; an adherent in doctrine; as, the disciples of Plato; the disciples of our Savior. The disciples, or The twelve disciples, the twelve selected companions of Jesus; -- also called the apostles. Disciples of Christ. See Christian, n., 3, and Campbellite. Syn: Learner; scholar; pupil; follower; adherent.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Disciple Dis*ci"ple, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Discipled; p. pr. & vb. n. Discipling.] 1. To teach; to train. [Obs.] That better were in virtues discipled. --Spenser. 2. To punish; to discipline. [Obs.] --B. Jonson. 3. To make disciples of; to convert to doctrines or principles. [R.] Sending missionaries to disciple all nations. --E. D. Griffin.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(disciples) If you are someone's disciple, you are influenced by their teachings and try to follow their example. ...a disciple of Freud. = follower N-COUNT: oft with poss

Easton's Bible Dictionary

a scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the Baptist (Matt. 9:14), and of the Pharisees (22:16), but principally to the followers of Christ. A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example (Matt. 10:24; Luke 14:26, 27, 33; John 6:69).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

di-si'-p'-l:

(1) Usually a substantive (mathetes, "a learner," from manthano, "to learn"; Latin discipulus, "a scholar"): The word is found in the Bible only in the Gospels and Acts. But it is good Greek, in use from Herodotus down, and always means the pupil of someone, in contrast to the master or teacher (didaskalos). See Mt 10:24; Lu 6:40. In all cases it implies that the person not only accepts the views of the teacher, but that he is also in practice an adherent. The word has several applications. In the widest sense it refers to those who accept the teachings of anyone, not only in belief but in life. Thus the disciples of John the Baptist (Mt 9:14; Lu 7:18; Joh 3:25); also of the Pharisees (Mt 22:16; Mr 2:18; Lu 5:33); of Moses (Joh 9:28). But its most common use is to designate the adherents of Jesus. (a) In the widest sense (Mt 10:42; Lu 6:17; Joh 6:66, and often). It is the only name for Christ's followers in the Gospels. But (b) especially the Twelve Apostles, even when they are called simply the disciples (Mt 10:1; 11:1; 12:1, et al.). In the Acts, after the death and ascension of Jesus, disciples are those who confess Him as the Messiah, Christians (Ac 6:1,2,7; 9:36 (feminine, mathetria); Ac 11:26, "The disciples were called Christians"). Even half-instructed believers who had been baptized only with the baptism of John are disciples (Ac 19:1-4).

(2) We have also the verb, matheteuo, "Jesus' disciple" (literally, "was discipled to Jesus," Mt 27:57); "Make disciples of all the nations" (the King James Version "teach," Mt 28:19); "had made many disciples" (the King James Version "taught many," Ac 14:21); "every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven" (the King James Version "instructed," Mt 13:52). The disciple of Christ today may be described in the words of Farrar, as "one who believes His doctrines, rests upon His sacrifice, imbibes His spirit, and imitates His example."

The Old Testament has neither the term nor the exact idea, though there is a difference between teacher and scholar among David's singers (1Ch 25:8), and among the prophetic guilds the distinction between the rank and file and the leader (1Sa 19:20; 2Ki 6:5).

G. H. Trever

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Scholar, pupil, learner. 2. Follower, adherent, supporter.

Moby Thesaurus

Ambrose of Milan, Athanasius, Barnabas, Basil, Christian, Clement of Alexandria, Clement of Rome, Cyprian of Carthage, Cyril of Jerusalem, God-fearing man, Gregory of Nyssa, Hermas, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Jerome, John, John Chrysostom, Justin Martyr, Lactantius Firmianus, Luke, Mark, Origen, Papias, Paul, Peter, Polycarp, Tertullian, accepter, adherent, admirer, aficionado, ante-Nicene Fathers, apostle, appendage, apprentice, attendant, believer, buff, catechumen, cavaliere servente, churchgoer, churchite, churchman, cohort, communicant, convert, courtier, creature, daily communicant, dangler, dependent, devotee, devotionalist, dummy, enthusiast, evangelist, fan, fanatic, figurehead, flunky, follower, following, gillie, good Christian, goon, hanger-on, henchman, homme de cour, jackal, lackey, learner, man, minion, myrmidon, neophyte, parasite, partisan, pietist, proselyte, public, pupil, puppet, pursuer, pursuivant, receiver, religionist, saint, satellite, scholar, sectary, shadow, stooge, student, successor, supporter, sycophant, tagtail, tail, theist, thug, trainbearer, truster, votary, ward heeler, zealot