Etymology
The term disciple is derived from the New Testament Greek word "μαθητής". http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/STRGRK31.htm#S3101. (mathetes), which means a pupil (of a teacher) or an apprentice (to a master craftsman), coming to English by way of the Latin discipulus meaning "a learner". A disciple is different from an apostle, which instead means a "messenger, he that is sent". http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/STRGRK6.htm#S652. While a disciple is one who learns from a teacher, in other words a student, an apostle is one sent to deliver those teachings or a message such as the Great Commission to others.
Read more about this topic: Disciple (Christianity)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)