Es*say" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Essayed (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Essaying.]
[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.
Es"say (?), n.;
pl. Essays (#). [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.)
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.
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