ailettes, aillettes

pl. [Fr. ailette = a winglet.] Heraldry: Small escutcheons fixed to the shoulders of armed knights. They were AILETTE called also emera es. They were of steel, and were introduced in the reign of Edward I., and were the origin of the modern epaulet. ail'-ing, pr. par. & a. [AIL, V.] "Touch but his nature in its ailing part." Cowper: Tirocinium . ail-ment, s. [Eng. ail; -ment.] Sickne , disease, indisposition, especially of a chronic character. "I am never ill, but I think of your ailments ." Swift : Letters.