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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Essay \Es"say\, noun; 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}, noun [Obs.]
Syn: Attempt; trial; endeavor; effort; tract; treatise; dissertation; disquisition.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Essay \Es*say"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Essayed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Essaying}.] [F. essayer. See {Essay}, noun]
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
essay
noun
1: an analytic or interpretive literary composition
2: a tentative attempt
verb
1: make an effort or attempt; "He tried to shake off his fears"; "The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps"; "The police attempted to stop the thief"; "He sought to improve himself"; "She always seeks to do good in the world" [syn: {try}, {seek}, {attempt}, {assay}]
2: put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to; "This approach has been tried with good results"; "Test this recipe" [syn: {test}, {prove}, {try}, {try out}, {examine}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
176 Moby Thesaurus words for "essay": acid test, approach, article, assay, attempt, autograph, bid, blank determination, brainchild, bring to test, brouillon, causerie, chance, composition, computer printout, confirm, copy, crack, criterion, crucial test, crucible, cut and try, descant, determination, discourse, discussion, disquisition, dissertation, docimasy, document, draft, edited version, effort, endeavor, engage, engrossment, etude, examination, excursus, exertion, experiment, explication, exposition, fair copy, feature, feeling out, fiction, final draft, finished version, first approach, first draft, flimsy, fling, gambit, give a try, give a tryout, go, go about, hassle, have a go, holograph, homily, introductory study, kiteflying, labor, letter, lick, lift a finger, literae scriptae, literary artefact, literary production, literature, lucubration, make an attempt, make an effort, manuscript, matter, memoir, monograph, morceau, move, nonfiction, note, offer, opus, ordeal, original, outline, pandect, paper, paragraph, parchment, penscript, piece, piece of writing, play, play around with, poem, practice upon, preliminary study, printed matter, printout, probation, production, prolegomenon, proof, prove, put to trial, reading matter, recension, research, research paper, road-test, rough draft, rough sketch, run a sample, sample, screed, scrip, script, scrive, scroll, second draft, seek, shake down, shot, sketch, sounding out, special article, stab, standard, step, strive, striving, stroke, strong bid, struggle, study, substantiate, survey, tackle, taste, tentative, term paper, test, test case, the written word, theme, thesis, toil, touchstone, tract, tractate, transcript, transcription, travail, treatise, treatment, trial, trial and error, try, try it on, try out, typescript, undertake, undertaking, validate, venture, venture on, venture upon, verification, verify, version, whack, work, writing
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