Pupae

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An immature life stage of certain insects, typically enclosed in a protective casing, during which transformation into an adult occurs
2. A developmental phase in insects characterized by the organism being dormant while undergoing metamorphosis within a chrysalis or cocoon
3. The stage in the lifecycle of insects where the larva is inactive and encased, preparing to emerge as a fully formed adult insect

Etymology: "Pupae" is the plural of "pupa", and the singular is the older word of the two in this sense. The Latin "pupa" meant a girl or doll, a small figure of a child, and the Latin noun was used for a doll-like object. Naturalists in the 1700s applied the same term to the motionless, enclosed stage of an insect, which looked to them like a wrapped or swaddled figure, and it is from this special use that the modern biological sense comes. The same Latin root also lies behind "puppet" and "puppy", two words that share a connection with the diminutive "pupa" and its idea of a small, doll-like thing. Those words developed their own separate paths, so the insect stage and the toy share a family tie rather than a direct borrowing.

Synonyms: larvae