chrysalis

From Latin chrysalis, from Ancient Greek χρυσαλλίς (khrusallís), from χρυσός (khrusós, “gold”), because of the color of some of them.

• enPR: krĭʹsəlĭs, IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪsəlɪs/

chrysalis (plural chrysalises or chrysalides)

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 viii

     Fanny was afraid. She was like an insect new-hatched from its chrysalis, naked and unprotected in a dawn she could not face.

2. The cocoon itself.
3. (figuratively) A strong constraint.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:

     However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.