sapling
Americannoun
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a young tree.
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a young person.
noun
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a young tree
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literary a youth
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sapling
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at sap 1, -ling 1
Explanation
A young tree with a slender trunk is known as a sapling. Just as a young duck is called a "duckling," a young tree is called a sapling. The suffix "-ling" comes from Old English and often shows up today at the end of words to mean "young" or "youngster." Brothers and sisters are called siblings. A baby goose is called a gosling. Someone who works under you is called an underling. The way to remember the meaning of sapling is that trees make "sap" — the sweet, sugary liquid that, in sugar maples, gets turned into syrup. A young tree, then, is known as a sapling. One day, it'll make sap.
Vocabulary lists containing sapling
The Secret Life of Bees
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Pax
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The annual conferences were drawing about 500 people when Anderson's nonprofit Sapling Foundation took over in 2001.
From Barron's • Oct. 15, 2025
Around the corner, you can peep upstairs for one dinner option, Evergreen Pizza Co. — along with Sapling, new from Manu Alfau of Seattle’s late, great Manu’s Bodega.
From Seattle Times • May 20, 2022
“Since exactly a month ago, about 200 people have joined a waiting list to buy a product from our Sapling Line alone,” Ms. Whelley McCabe said.
From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2021
Photograph: Little Sapling Toys At the other end of the scale, Americans have been going all out this year with several drive-thru nativity scenes on show across the States.
From The Guardian • Dec. 20, 2012
This recrudescence of persecution, this fresh outpouring of the blood of martyrs, served to further enliven the roots which that holy Sapling had already struck in its native soil.
From God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
