Chrysallis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The hardened protective case containing a butterfly or moth during its transformation from larva to adult
2. A protective covering formed around an insect larva as it undergoes metamorphosis into its winged form
3. The encased stage of butterfly and moth development in which the creature transforms from a caterpillar into a winged insect

Etymology: The word in question is a rare misspelling of "chrysalis," and its real history is the story of a gilded creature. The Greek "khrusallís" was built from "khrusós," meaning gold or golden, plus a middle element that is not fully explained, and a feminine ending that marks it as a noun of a certain type. The result was a name for something that looked like gold, which is a remarkably apt description of a pupa that glints in its shell. Latin took the Greek form and adjusted it into "chrysalis," with "chrȳsallis" appearing as a variant. From there English borrowed the term for the hard-cased resting stage of a butterfly or moth, which is what the word still means. The gold in the name refers to the appearance of certain chrysalides, which can show metallic or golden markings. Two other Greek words, "thruallís" and "aruballís," share the same unusual ending. Scholars think these may come from a language spoken in Greece before Greek arrived, since their endings do not match ordinary Greek patterns.

Synonyms: chrysalis, pupa