Etymology From fledge (“prepare for flying”) + -ling.
1
Untried or inexperienced.
His trenchant criticisms of the Church's repression […] include a discussion of the considerable 1938 success of the fledgling NODL in getting magazines removed from various points of sale.2011, Jay A. Gertzman, Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940:
2
Emergent or rising.
Harry Boland was born in Dublin in 1884 and educated with his younger brother Gerry in Clontarf. His father James, who greatly influenced him was politically active in the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the fledgling GAA. Harry Boland fought at the GPO in April 1916 and was interned in Dartmoor and Lewes jail.1997 August 5, “Film failed to do justice to drama surrounding death of Harry Boland”, in The Irish Times:
Less than 24 hours later, Aker’s fledgling green energy and technology unit, Aker Horizons, revealed it had landed a bigger catch, with its planned purchase of Roscommon native Eddie O’Connor’s Mainstream Renewable Power for up to €1 billion.2021 January 22, Joe Brennan, “Has Eddie O’Connor underestimated the value of his €1bn baby?”, in The Irish Times:
fledgling
noun
Etymology From fledge (“prepare for flying”) + -ling.
1
A young bird which has just developed its flight feathers (notably wings).
2
An insect that has just fledged, i.e. undergone its final moult to become an adult or imago.
3
Figuratively An immature, naïve or inexperienced person.