Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - chrysalis

 noun  (plural chrysalides or ~es)  Etymology: Latin chrysallid-, chrysallis gold-colored pupa of butterflies, from Greek, from chrysos gold, of Semitic origin; akin to Hebrew ?aru? gold  Date: 1601  1.  a. a pupa of a butterfly; broadly an insect pupa  b. the enclosing case or covering of a pupa  2. a protecting covering ; a sheltered state or stage of being or growth a budding writer could not emerge from his ~ too soon — William Du Bois