Chrysalis

Pronunciation

• enPR: krĭʹsÉ™lÄ­s, IPA: /ˈkɹɪsÉ™lɪs/

Origin

From Ancient Greek χρυσαλλίς ("golden"), because of the color of some of them.

Full definition of chrysalis

Noun

1. The pupa of a butterfly or moth, enclosed inside a cocoon, in which metamorphosis takes place
• 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House Is Built, Chapter VII, Section viiiFanny was afraid. She was like an insect new-hatched from its chrysalis, naked and unprotected in a dawn she could not face.
2. (figurative) A strong constraint.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 1, However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.