
ETYMOLOGY
apparently from air (n.) + -ling
EXAMPLE (for n. 1.)
“… Some more there be, slight ayrelings, will be wonne,
With dogs, and horses ; or, perhaps, a whore ;
Which must be had : and, if they venter Hues,
For vs, AVRELIA, we must hazard honors
A little. Get thee store, and change of women,
As I haue boyes; and giue ‘hem time, and place, And all conniuence : be thy selfe, too, courtly ;
And entertayne, and feast, sit vp, and reuell ;
Call all the great, the faire, and spirited Dames
Of Rome about thee ; and beginne a fashion
Of freedome, and community. …”
From: Catiline His Conspiracy
By Benjamin Jonson, 1611