A person who frequents the court of a ruler; a courtier or someone who attends court, often with an implication of servility or fawning behavior.
From 'court' + '-ling' (diminutive suffix indicating a small, insignificant, or dependent person). The suffix '-ling' often carries a slightly pejorative tone, as in 'hireling' or 'underling.'
In Renaissance literature, 'courtlings' were the satirical targets—writers mocked them as vain, scheming sycophants who obsessed over fashion and favor while pretending to virtue, much like how we satirize influencers today.
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