Etymology

fledge

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Today it means: To care for a young bird until it is capable of flight. Full definition →

Middle English flegge ← Old English *flyċġe ← Proto-West Germanic *flugi
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*plewk-“to run, flow, be swift, flee, fly”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*flugjaz“able to fly, fledged”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*flugi
  4. Old English · inherited from*flyċġe“able to fly, fledged”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromflegge
  6. English todayfledge

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”)

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*plewk- all →

flightflyflockfleeplumeflossplumage

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.