Etymology

pupa

pu·pa
P3U1P3A1

Today it means: An insect in the development stage between larva and adult. Full definition →

Latin pūpa
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompūpa“little girl; doll, puppet”
  2. English todaypupa

Borrowed from New Latin, from a special use of Latin pūpa (“little girl; doll, puppet”). Doublet of pupe; compare also puppet, puppy.

Words from the same roots

Latinpūpa all →

puppetpupaphobia

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.