nursling

American  

[nurs-ling] / ˈnɜrs lɪŋ /

Or nurseling

noun

1. an infant, child, or young animal being nursed or being cared for by a nurse.

2. any person or thing under fostering care, influences, or conditions.

---

nursling British  

/ ˈnɜːslɪŋ /

noun

1. a child or young animal that is being suckled, nursed, or fostered

---

Etymology

Origin of nursling

First recorded in 1550–60; nurse + -ling ¹

Example Sentences

Other times, the older nursling will naturally decide to stop.

From Washington Post • Dec. 12, 2022

Being “a native and nursling of the moors”, Emily had made a book that was “hewn in a wild workshop, with simple tools, out of homely materials”.

From The Guardian • Jul. 21, 2018

In Phoenix, the nursling Journal faces tough competition from Eugene C. Pulliam's aggressive Republic, with its competent, extensive news coverage and its sustained interest in Phoenix' phenomenal growth.

From Time Magazine Archive

And would you throw away your lovely nursling upon a paltry baronet?

From Airy Fairy Lilian by Margaret Wolfe Hamilton (AKA Duchess)

His aunt urged him to seek retirement, self-reliance, friendship with nature; to be no longer “the nursling of surrounding circumstances,” but to prepare a celestial abode for the muse.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various