From Latin 'pupilla' (little doll) — named for the tiny reflected figure visible in someone's eye when you look closely.
The dark circular opening in the center of the iris of the eye.
From Latin 'pupilla' (little doll), diminutive of 'pupa' (girl, doll). When you look closely at someone's eye, you see a tiny reflection of yourself in their pupil — a little doll-like figure. The Romans named the eye's opening after this miniature person. Key roots: pupa (Latin: "girl, doll").
Your eye's pupil is named 'little doll' because of the tiny person you see reflected in it. Latin 'pupilla' described the miniature figure visible in someone's eye when you look closely. The same root gives us 'puppet' (a little figure), 'pupa' (the doll-like insect stage), and 'pupil' as in student (an intellectual 'minor'). Greek did the same thing: 'kore' meant both 'girl' and 'pupil of the eye.'