When it comes to the plural of chrysalis, most people use “chrysalises”, but the more etymologically correct version is actually “chrysalides” (although both are acceptable). The word was borrowed in 1658 from Latin, which in turn originated from Ancient Greek khrysallis. The root of this word is khrysos, meaning “gold” or “wealth”, as the pupae of many butterflies in the region were gold-colored. Interestingly, this root may have Semitic origins, as evidenced by cognates in languages like Hebrew. From khrysos, we also get the word chrysanthemum – anthemon meant “flower” in Ancient Greek, derived from Proto-Indo-European hendos, meaning “bloom”. The literary frequency of both words has remained fairly constant since the mid-twentieth century.
