chrysalis

[ kris-uh-lis ]

See synonyms for chrysalis on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural chrys·a·lis·es, chry·sal·i·des

[kri-sal-i-deez]. /krɪˈsæl ɪˌdiz/.

the hard-shelled pupa of a moth or butterfly; an obtect pupa.

Origin of chrysalis

1650–60; <Latin chrȳsalis<Greek chrȳsallís, equivalent to chrȳs-chrys- + -allis suffix, probably with diminutive value

Words Nearby chrysalis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chrysalis in a sentence

Only 17 out of 390 simulated scenarios ended with chrysalis breaking apart to create the rings.
A missing moon could have given Saturn its rings — and tilt | Lisa Grossman | October 12, 2022 | Science News For Students
Then add a twist when the youngest begins to emerge from the chrysalis of what appeared as an early traditional childhood gender path transforming over time into a butterfly of the opposite gender.
Exceptional kids, real change, the GenderCool Champions | Brody Levesque | August 16, 2021 | Washington Blade
chrysalis, a new line of lingerie, aims to create undergarments for transgender women.
Introducing the First Lingerie Line for Transgender Women | Claire Stern | February 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
It is hardly more than a hundred thousand years since terrestrial humanity evolved itself from the animal chrysalis.
Urania | Camille Flammarion
In Leeming-street it was in the chrysalis state; in Fishergate the butterfly epoch has been reached.
Our Churches and Chapels | Atticus

As I look back I seem to myself to have been only a chrysalis.
The Opened Shutters | Clara Louise Burnham
Why remember the chrysalis after the butterfly is in the air?
The Opened Shutters | Clara Louise Burnham
This often lasts for two hours or more; it might be said that the cream remains in chrysalis, and refuses to butterfly!
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 97, November, 1865 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for chrysalis

chrysalis

/ (ˈkrɪsəlɪs) /

nounplural chrysalises or chrysalides (krɪˈsælɪˌdiːz)

the obtect pupa of a moth or butterfly
anything in the process of developing

Origin of chrysalis

C17: from Latin chrӯsallis, from Greek khrusallis, from khrusos gold, of Semitic origin; compare Hebrew harūz gold

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for chrysalis

chrysalis

[ krĭs′ə-lĭs ]

The pupa of certain kinds of insects, especially of moths and butterflies, that is inactive and enclosed in a firm case or cocoon from which the adult eventually emerges.
The case or cocoon of a chrysalis.

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