youngling

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈjʌŋ.lɪŋ/ UK /ˈjʌŋ.lɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a young person, animal, or plant (archaic or literary)

The doe kept her younglings hidden in the tall grass.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a young person, animal, or... youngster juvenile child youth whelp fledgling

Opposites

elder adult

Word family

Related forms young youngster youth

Etymology

From Old English ġeongling ('youth'), from ġeong ('young') + -ling (diminutive suffix).

ġeong Old English *jungaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style

External links

# youngling

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈjʌŋ.lɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈjʌŋ.lɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. a young person, animal, or plant (archaic or literary)

## Examples
- The doe kept her younglings hidden in the tall grass.

## Synonyms
- youngster
- juvenile
- child
- youth
- whelp
- fledgling

## Antonyms
- elder
- adult

## Related Forms
- young
- youngster
- youth

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ġeong
- Root: *jungaz

## Etymology
From Old English ġeongling ('youth'), from ġeong ('young') + -ling (diminutive suffix).

## AI Etymology
Youngling comes from Old English ġeongling ('youth'), from ġeong ('young') + -ling (diminutive suffix). In current use it is a noun meaning "a young person, animal, or plant (archaic or literary)". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. A diminutive element is part of the history, marking a smaller or derived form. The historical chain includes Old English ġeong and Proto-Germanic *jungaz. Related English forms include young, youngster, and youth. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style

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