The story
- Old English · inherited fromearsling“backwards, on the back”
- Middle English · inherited from*arsling
- English todayarselong
Alteration (after headlong) of arseling, from Middle English *arsling, from Old English earsling (“backwards, on the back”), equivalent to arse + -ling. Cognate with Dutch aarzeling, aarzelings, German ärschling, ärschlings.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.