fledgling

English

Alternative forms

• fledgeling

Etymology

Etymology tree

English fledge

Proto-Indo-European *-lósder.

Proto-Germanic *-ilaz

Proto-Indo-European *-n̥kʷo-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos

Proto-Germanic *-īnaz

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

?

Proto-Germanic *-ingaz

Proto-Germanic *-ilingaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ling

Old English -ling

Middle English -lyng

English -ling

English fledgling

From fledge (“prepare for flying”) + -ling.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈflɛd͡ʒ.lɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

fledgling (not comparable)

1. Untried or inexperienced.

   Synonyms: unfledged, virginal

   • 2011, Jay A. Gertzman, Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940:

     His trenchant criticisms of the Church's repression […] include a discussion of the considerable 1938 success of the fledgling NODL in getting magazines removed from various points of sale.

2. Emergent or rising.

   Synonyms: nascent, emerging

   • 1997 August 5, “Film failed to do justice to drama surrounding death of Harry Boland”, in The Irish Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 24 July 2025:

     Harry Boland was born in Dublin in 1884 and educated with his younger brother Gerry in Clontarf. His father James, who greatly influenced him was politically active in the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the fledgling GAA. Harry Boland fought at the GPO in April 1916 and was interned in Dartmoor and Lewes jail.

   • 2021 January 22, Joe Brennan, “Has Eddie O’Connor underestimated the value of his €1bn baby?”, in The Irish Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 13 July 2025:

     Less than 24 hours later, Aker’s fledgling green energy and technology unit, Aker Horizons, revealed it had landed a bigger catch, with its planned purchase of Roscommon native Eddie O’Connor’s Mainstream Renewable Power for up to €1 billion.

Translations

inexperienced

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 未經嘗試的 / 未经尝试的 (wèijīng chángshì de), 缺乏經驗的 / 缺乏经验的 (quēfá jīngyàn de)

• Czech: nezkušený (cs)
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: onervaren (nl)
• Esperanto: sensperta, nesperta
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: kokematon (fi), aloitteleva (fi), orastava (fi)
• French: inexpérimenté (fr)
• German: unerfahren (de), unerprobt, ungeprüft
• Greek: πρωτόπειρος (el) m (protópeiros), άπειρος (el) m (ápeiros), αρχάριος (el) m (archários)
• Italian: inesperto (it), alle prime armi
• Khmer: ដោយគ្មានបទពិសោធន៏ (daoy kmien bɑt pi’saot)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bêtecrûbe (ku), naşî (ku)

• Polish: niedoświadczony (pl)
• Portuguese: inexperiente (pt), novato (pt)
• Russian: нео́пытный (ru) (neópytnyj), неискушённый (ru) (neiskušónnyj), зелёный (ru) (zeljónyj), желторотый (ru) m (želtorotyj)
• Spanish: inexperto (es), bisoño (es), principiante (es), novel (es), novicio (es)
• Swedish: oerfaren (sv), flygfärdig (sv)

emergent or rising

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 新興的 / 新兴的 (xīnxīng de), 上升的 (shàngshēng de)

• Dutch: opkomend (nl), rijzend (nl),
• Esperanto: freŝbakita
• Finnish: aloitteleva (fi) aufkommend (de), aufkeimend (de), sich entwickelnd, hervortretend (de), jung (de), frischgebacken (de), Jung-, Nachwuchs-, in den Kinderschuhen
• French: naissant (fr) m, naissante (fr) f, émergent (fr) m, émergente (fr) f
• Polish: świeżo upieczony (pl), początkujący (pl)

Noun

fledgling (plural fledglings)

1. A young bird which has just developed its flight feathers (notably wings).
2. An insect that has just fledged, i.e. undergone its final moult to become an adult or imago.
3. (figuratively) An immature, naïve or inexperienced person.

Translations

young bird

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 剛長出飛羽的幼鳥 / 刚长出飞羽的幼鸟 (gāng zhǎng chū fēi yǔ de yòu niǎo)

• Czech: ptáče (cs) n, ptáčátko n
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: kuiken (nl) n
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: linnupoeg
• Finnish: lentopoikanen
• French: oisillon (fr) m, oiselet (fr) m
• German: Küken (de) n; (Austria also) Kücken (de) n flügges Küken n, (Austria also) flügges Kücken n, Küken (de) n, flügger Vogel m, eben flügge gewordener Vogel m, Jungvogel (de) m
• Greek: νεοσσός (el) m (neossós)
• Hebrew: פִּרְחוֹן (he) m (pirḥón)
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: gearrcach m
• Italian: uccellino (it), involato (it) m
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Kazakh: түлек (tülek)
• Khmer: កូនបក្សី (koon baksəy)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Māori: pīrere, hauturuki, turuki
• Polish: podlot m anim
• Portuguese: filhote/filho/pássaro/etc. recém-emplumado
• Punjabi: ਬੋਟ m (boṭ)
• Romanian: păsărea (ro) f, păsărică f
• Russian: опери́вшийся птене́ц m (operívšijsja ptenéc), птене́ц (ru) m (ptenéc)
• Slovak: vtáča n
• Spanish: pollito (es) m, polluelo (es) m, volandero (es) m, volantón m
• Swedish: fågelunge (sv)
• Tagalog: inakay, sisiw
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkmen: guşjagaz
• Volapük: (♂♀) bödül (vo), (♂) hibödül, (♀) jibödül

insect that has just fledged

•  Chinese:

   Mandarin: 剛羽化的昆蟲 / 刚羽化的昆虫 (gāng yǔhuà de kūnchóng)

•  Finnish: vasta kuoriutunut hyönteinen
•  French: please add this translation if you can

inexperienced person — see also beginner

• Albanian: axhami (sq), fillestar (sq)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 未成熟的人 (wèi chéngshú de rén), 天真的人 (tiānzhēn de rén), 缺乏經驗的人 / 缺乏经验的人 (quēfá jīngyàn de rén)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: nieuweling (nl) m, (familiar) melkmuil (nl) m, aankomeling (nl) m, groentje (nl) n
• Esperanto: novico, novulo, senspertulo
• Faroese: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: untuvikko (fi)
• French: novice (fr) m or f, (familiar) bleu (fr)
• German: Grünschnabel (de) m, Neuling (de) m, Laie (de) m
• Greek: αρχάριος (el) m (archários)
• Italian: novellino (it), principiante (it), pivello (it)
• Khmer: មនុស្សគ្មានសមត្ថភាព (mɔnuh kmien sa’mattʰa’ pʰiep)
• Polish: nowicjusz (pl) m pers, nowicjuszka (pl) f, żółtodziób (pl) m pers
• Portuguese: novato (pt) m, iniciante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: novice (ro) m or f, ageamiu (ro) m
• Russian: новичо́к (ru) m (novičók), нео́пытный юне́ц m (neópytnyj junéc), зелёный (ru) m (zeljónyj) (disparaging, lit.: "green"), несмышлёныш (ru) m (nesmyšljónyš)
• Spanish: amateur (es) m or f, novato (es) m, principiante (es) m or f, pipiolo (es) m (colloquial)
• Swedish: nybörjare (sv) c

See also

• flapper (hunters' slang)
• hatchling
• nestling

References

• “fledgeling”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.