Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Chrysalis

Chrysalis , noun

[Latin chrysallis the gold-colored pupa of butterflies, Greek {not transcribed}, from {not transcribed} gold. Compare Aurelia.]

(Zoology) The pupa state of certain insects, esp. of butterflies, from which the perfect insect emerges. See Pupa, and Aurelia (a).