sapling
Americannoun
-
saplings
plural
-
a young tree.
-
a young person.
noun
-
a young tree
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Pax
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
The mayor gave each of them a pine sapling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Jez Westgarth, the trust's assistant director for Cumbria and Lancashire, said his team believed the sapling was taken from the remote site to be replanted elsewhere.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Tyler and Cora steady a western redbud sapling as Atticus holds up a bag of soil and Eliza shovels out the fragrant earth.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
Martina Irwin, a co-founder of the Tree Sanctuary in Coventry, said planting its sapling would be really special.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
She squatted down next to a sapling and said, “You see here: how this leaf is broken, and if you look carefully, you can see the smudge of a hoofprint.”
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
The earliest he can replant is 2029, he said, to ensure parasites from the burned wood don’t affect his saplings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
One of the saplings grown from the felled Sycamore Gap tree has been stolen from a castle's grounds.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Over-population of deer means they graze on young plants and tree saplings before they ever have a chance to reach maturity.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
The seedlings and saplings are mostly knee-high to chest-high and mixed with thickets of ceanothus and other post-fire brush growing amid the true giants that stand dead among them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
The huts stood in fallow fields, studded with African weeds and shoots of young saplings.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
