ESSAYS
Noun
essays
plural of essay
Verb
essays
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of essay
Anagrams
• Sesays
Source: Wiktionary
ESSAY
Es"say, n.; pl. Essays. Etym: [F. essai, fr. L. exagium a weighing,
weight, balance; ex out + agere to drive, do; cf. examen, exagmen, a
means of weighing, a weighing, the tongue of a balance, exigere to
drive out, examine, weigh, Gr. 'exa`gion a weight, 'exagia`zein to
examine, 'exa`gein to drive out, export. See Agent, and cf. Exact,
Examine, Assay.]
1. An effort made, or exertion of body or mind, for the performance
of anything; a trial; attempt; as, to make an essay to benefit a
friend. "The essay at organization." M. Arnold.
2. (Lit.)
Definition: 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. An assay. See Assay, n. [Obs.]
Syn.
– Attempt; trial; endeavor; effort; tract; treatise; dissertation;
disquisition.
Es*say", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Essayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Essaying.]
Etym: [F. essayer. See Essay, n.]
1. To exert one's power or faculties upon; to make an effort to
perform; to attempt; to endeavor; to make experiment or trial of; to
try.
What marvel if I thus essay to sing Byron.
Essaying nothing she can not perform. Emerson.
A danger lest the young enthusiast . . . should essay the impossible.
J. C. Shairp.
2. To test the value and purity of (metals); to assay. See Assay.
[Obs.] Locke.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition