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fledged

[flejd]
adjective
  1. having the plumage or feathers necessary for flight.
  2. having the characteristics of maturity.
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Origin of fledged

First recorded in 1570–80; fledge + -ed2

fledge

[flej]
verb (used with object), fledged, fledg·ing.
  1. to bring up (a young bird) until it is able to fly.
  2. to furnish with or as if with feathers or plumage.
  3. to provide (an arrow) with feathers.
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verb (used without object), fledged, fledg·ing.
  1. (of a young bird) to acquire the feathers necessary for flight.
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adjective
  1. Archaic. (of young birds) able to fly.
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Origin of fledge

1350–1400; Middle English flegge (fully-)fledged, Old English *flecge, as variant of -flycge; cognate with Old High German flucki, Middle Low German vlügge (> German flügge); akin to fly1
Related formsfledge·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for fledged

Historical Examples

  • When he was fledged I let him out in the room, and so he could exercise his wings.

    Hortus Inclusus

    John Ruskin

  • Over yonder, in some distant region of Libya, they had been fledged in masses.

  • Young, when fledged, like the female, but with the crest shorter.

  • It had long been fledged, but they had clipped its wings and put it in a cage.

    The Son of a Servant

    August Strindberg

  • By-and-by they will be fledged, and tailed, and get wing-feathers, and fly.

British Dictionary definitions for fledged

fledge

verb
  1. (tr) to feed and care for (a young bird) until it is able to fly
  2. Also called: fletch (tr) to fit (something, esp an arrow) with a feather or feathers
  3. (intr) (of a young bird) to grow feathers
  4. (tr) to cover or adorn with or as if with feathers
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Word Origin

Old English -flycge, as in unflycge unfledged; related to Old High German flucki able to fly; see fly 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fledged

fledge

v.

Old English *-flycge (Kentish -flecge),an adjective meaning "having the feathers, fit to fly," from West Germanic *fluggja- (cf. Middle Dutch vlugge, Low German flügge), from root meaning "to fly" (see fly (v.)). As a verb, it is first attested in English 1560s. Related: Fledged; fledging.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper