Youngling was a term that existed in Basic to refer to a child in a species-neutral way. Thus, the term youngling could apply to all forms of offspring, from humanoid children to insectoid grubs.
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Specifically within the Jedi Order during the last years of the Republic, youngling was an unofficial title, referring to a Force-sensitive child undergoing the early stages of Jedi training—otherwise known as a Jedi Initiate. At a very young age, they were removed from their home and assigned to a clan for training, according to their abilities.
If a youngling was not chosen by any Jedi Knight to be their Padawan by 13 years of age, the youngling was placed into another, lesser role in the Jedi Service Corps. Depending on where the student's talents lay, this could have been the Agricultural Corps, the Medical Corps, or the Exploration Corps.
During the Great Jedi Purge, most of the younglings and Padawans were killed by Anakin Skywalker, who had recently assumed his new title of Darth Vader. Some managed to escape the purge, while others were safe with Jedi Master K'Kruhk.
In the New Jedi Order, since there was no age restriction, the term was replaced with Jedi Initiate.
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