What does ‘disciple’ mean? A quick study of the word that is translated into English as “disciple” yields some good information that will provide a base for studying what Jesus meant and how he applied the word. The word in Greek is transliterated mathetes (literally, the learning one) and is derived from the verb manthano which means “to learn”. It occurs about 264 times in the Gospels and Acts. It means ‘One who learns instruction from another? or a disciple is likened to an apprentice who learns from his master tradesman. He can also be likened to an imitator of his teacher. So in essence, a disciple is one that learns from the Teacher and then acts upon it. This is very important. It is written in Matthew 23 (Jesus speaking):