fledge

To care for a young bird until it is capable of flight.

Adjective

  1. Feathered; furnished with feathers or wings; able to fly.
    • his shoulders, fledge with wings - 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […],...

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”)

Forms

flidge flig flish flitch flush

Verb

  1. To care for a young bird until it is capable of flight.
  2. To grow, cover or be covered with feathers.
  3. To decorate with feathers.
  4. To complete the last moult and become a winged adult insect.

Forms

fledges fledging fledged flidge flig flish flitch flush

Related

fletch fletcher fligger

Derived

fledgeless fledgling full-fledged postfledging unfledged