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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Essay

Es-sāy’, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. ESSAYED; p. pr. & vb. n. ESSAYING.] [Fr. essayer, O. Fr. asaier, Norm. Fr. essoier, Pr. essaiar, Sp. ensayar, Pg. ensaiar, It. saggiare, assaggiare. See infra, and cf. ASSAY.]

Sense 1. To exert one's power or faculties upon; to make an effort to perform; to try; to attempt.

What marvel if I thus essay to sing? Byron.

Sense 2. To make experiment or trial of; especially, to try the value and purity of metals; to assay.

Ĕs'say, n.

noun

(ĕs'sa), n. [Fr. essai, Pr. essay, Sp. ensayo, Pg. ensaio, It. saggio, from Lat. exagium, a weighing, weight, balance. See ASSAY.]

  1. An effort made, or exertion of body or mind, for the performance of any thing; a trial; attempt; as, to make an essay to benefit a friend; a successful essay.
  2. (Lit.) A composition treating of any particular subject; — usually shorter and less methodical than a formal, finished treatise; as, an essay on the life and writings of Homer; an essay on fossils, or on commerce.
  3. Trial or experiment to prove the qualities of a metal. See ASSAY.

Syn. — Attempt; trial; endeavor; effort; tract; treatise; dissertation; disquisition.