cocoon means the silky case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, protecting the pupa within. It carries an Arena rating of 1883, earned across 50 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cocoon ranks #25 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #110 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #117 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #223 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
cocoon is pronounced /kəˈkuːn/.
Why “cocoon” is a great word
A silky protective case spun by the larvae of many insects, especially moths and butterflies, as a chamber for metamorphosis into the pupal stage. From French *cocon*, a diminutive of *coque* ("shell"), first recorded in English use in 1690–1700. Unlike "chrysalis" (which names the pupal stage itself, often within a hardened case) or "shell" (a rigid, inorganic armor), a cocoon is the self-spun fibrous envelope, a private architecture of becoming. It is the pale, parchment-wrapped package dangling from a twig; the faint rustling within a tuft of wool in a drawer; the glistening mystery hung in a garden shed—a secreted womb where the only work is the patient, total undoing of the self, until something else emerges, unrecognizable, from what it made of itself in the dark.
Etymology
From French cocon, a diminutive of coque (“shell”).
noun
- The silky case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, protecting the pupa within.
- Any similar protective case.e.g.“The bad guys generally don’t like to get on trains, because they’re trapped on a moving cocoon that the CTA controls.” — 1997 June 24, Robert Dart, quotee, “CTA To Leave Train Conductors At The Station”, in Chicago Tribune:
verb
- To envelop in a protective case.e.g.“Vern grabbed the throw draped over the back of the sofa and cocooned herself within it.” — 2021, Rivers Solomon, Sorrowland, #Merky Books, page 163:
- To withdraw into such a case.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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