cocoon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈkuːn/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cocon,^[2][3][4] from Occitan coucoun (“eggshell”),^[2][3][5] a diminutive of coco “shell”,^[2][3] probably from Latin coccum (“berry, oak gall, kermes”),^[2][3][6] from Ancient Greek κόκκος (kókkos, “seed, berry”).^[2][3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The silky case spun by the larvae of many insects to cover them during the chrysalis stage (1690s).^[6][7][4]

Semantic evolution

By the 1880s the noun was used for similar structures made by other animals,^[7] and figuratively from 1865.^[7] The verb is recorded in 1850 for insects forming a cocoon,^[6] and later for wrapping a person snugly (1873–1881).^[6][7][3] After the Second World War cocoon also named a protective plastic coating sprayed over stored military equipment.^[7][2] In 1986 the verb took on the sense “to stay at home, retreating from the world”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1679 – first date given by Merriam-Webster.^[3]
• 1699 – the silky case of an insect larva.^[7][4]
• 1850 – verb, to form a cocoon.^[6]
• 1881 – verb, to swathe as in a cocoon.^[7][3]
• 1948 – a protective coating for stored equipment.^[7]
• 1986 – staying at home, retreating from the outside world (cocooning).^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The silky case in which an insect larva passes its pupal stage.
2. A similar protective covering, such as a spider's egg case.
3. Something that protects or isolates like a cocoon.
4. A protective plastic coating over stored military or naval equipment.

Verb

1. To wrap in or as if in a cocoon.
2. To retreat as if into a cocoon, away from the outside world.

Word family

• cocoonlike

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press