aerialist

noun4

1. •
   An acrobat performing high off the ground, defying a fall to earth, as on a trapeze or a tightrope.

   • The migratory birds have flown the coop but they’ll be back with their built-in compass. They’ll come back the way the circus does each year— with aerialists, our angular birds that loop the loop. — 1969
2. •
   A specialist in aerials, a freestyle skiing discipline.
3. •
   (no longer used) One who operates a flying machine; a balloonist or aviator.

   • The Frenchman, Paulhan, made several spectacular flights, but it is noticeable that while the American aerialists are less spectacular they are doing more to further the art of flying. — 1910
4. •
   (no longer used, rare) A person whose knowledge of agriculture is purely academic and not derived from experience.

   • Book farmers, the aerialists of Marshal, are those who know agriculture only by reading about it. — 1825