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fledge

UK/flɛd͡ʒ/ US/ˈflɛdʒ/ uncommon archaic

verb

1.

feed, care for, and rear young birds for flight

2.

decorate with feathers

  • “fledge an arrow”
Synonyms
3.

grow feathers

  • “The young sparrows are fledging already”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English flegge, fligge, flygge, from Old English *flyċġe (“able to fly, fledged”) (attested in *unflyċġe, unfligge (“unfledged”)), from Proto-West Germanic *flugi, from Proto-Germanic *flugjaz (“able to fly, fledged”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to run, flow, be swift, flee, fly”). Cognates From Proto-Germanic: Dutch vlug (“fledged, able to fly, nimble, swift”), Low German flügg (“fledged”), German flügge, German flücke (“fledged”), Icelandic fleygur (“able to fly, fledged”)

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Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.