# fledge

> English word · Verb · IPA /flɛd͡ʒ/ · frequency rank #97,033

## Definitions
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.

## Etymology
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”)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fledge