ess, esl (es)

[ -e . [(1) Early mod. E. also -e e, -i e, -is, IMG:content-0732.png:[blocks in formation] Then in my madne I e ay'd the door: It gave. Tennyson, Holy Grail. And twice or thrice he feebly e ays A trembling hand with the knife to raise. Whittier, Mogg Megone. 21. To try and test the value and purity of, as etc., fem. forms usually a ociated with masc. ones in-tor, -tre being in popular apprehension equiv. to- tor + -e (1).] A suffix theoretically attachable to any noun denoting an (originally masculine) agent, to form a noun denoting a female agent, as hoste , abbe , priore , chief- metals. Now written a ay (which see). taine , authore , etc. It is most frequent with nouns in erl, as bakere , brewere , Quakere , etc. In such words as instructre , directre , editre , mistre , vis i- tre , etc., the suffix is really -tre (see -tre ), but in popu- lar apprehension it is -e added to the termination of the corresponding masculines, instructor , director , editor, mis ter ( master ), visitor , etc., such masculines being usually in pronunciation, and sometimes in spelling, a imilated to native English nouns in -er , as directer , instructer, visiter, etc., editor as if * editer , etc. In some cases the feminine form exists, while the masculine form is obsolete, as in governe ( governor in a corresponding sense being obso- The standard of our mint being now settled, the rules and methods of e aying suited to it should remain unvariable. Locke. lete); mistre , used in some senses without a corresponding use of mister or master. e ay (es'ā, formerly e-sā'), n. [The older E. form is a ay , q. v.; a ai , asaie , trial, attempt, asai , e ai , e ay (later only e ai , › later E. e ay ), mod. F. e ai = Pr. e ay = Sp. ensayo = Pg. ensaio = It. saggio , a ay, trial, experiment, exagium , a weigh- ing, a weight, a balance, * exagere , exigere , pp. exact us , drive out, require, exact, examine, try, ex , out, + agere , drive, lead, bring, etc. See examen , examine, from the same source. The Gr. ἐξάγιον , sometimes quoted as the origin of the L. exagium , is rare LGr., and is taken from the L. term; it denotes a certain weight, 14 drachme. Popular etym.altered the form to ἑξάγιον , as if ἐξ = E. six .] 1. A trial, attempt, or endeavor; an effort made; exertion of body or mind to perform or accomplish anything: as, an e ay toward reform; an e ay of strength. All th' admirable Creatures made beforn, Which Heav'n and Earth and Ocean doo adorn, Are but E ays , compar'd in every part To this divinest Master-Piece of Art. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 6. Your e ay in cro ing the channel gave us great hopes you would experience little inconvenience on the rest of the voyage. Jefferson, Correspondence, I. 331. Well hast thou done, great artist Memory, In setting round thy first experiment With royal frame-work of wrought gold; Needs must thou dearly love thy first e ay. Tennyson, Ode to Memory. My e ay in the profe ion after which my soul had longed was an ignoble failure. Arch. Forbes , Souvenirs of some Continents, p. 42. 2. An experimental trial; a test. I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote this but as an e ay or taste of my virtue. Shak., Lear, i. 2. The Poet here represents the Supreme Being as making an E ay of his own Work, and putting to the tryal that reasoning Faculty with which he had endued his Creature. Add is on , Spectator, No. 345. 3t. An a ay or test of the qualities of a metal. See a ay, n.-4. In lit., a discursive composition concerned with a particular subject, usually shorter and le methodical and finished than a treatise; a short disquisition: as, an e ay on the life and writings of Homer; an e ay on fo ils; an e ay on commerce. To write just treatises requireth leisure in the writer and leisure in the reader,. which is the cause that hath made me choose to write certain brief notes, set down rather significantly than curiously, which I have called E ays. The word is late, but the thing is ancient. Bacon , To Prince Henry. Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius, if one mark them well, are but E ays , that is dispersed meditations, though conveyed in the form of epistles. Bacon , quoted in Abbott, p. 438. The e ay is properly a collection of notes, indicating certain aspects of a subject, or suggesting thought concerning it, rather than the orderly or exhaustive treatment of it. It is not a formal siege, but a series of a aults, e ays, or attempts upon it. It does not pursue its theme like a pointer, but goes hither and thither like a bird to find material for its nest, or a bee to get honey for its comb. New Princeton Rev., IV. 228. To take the e ayt (of a dish), to try it by tasting: formerly done in great houses by the steward or the master carver. Nares. To come and uncover the meat, which was served in covered dishes, then taking the e ay with a square slice of bread which was prepared for that use and purpose. G. Rose, Instruct, for Officers of the Mouth (1682), p. 20. =Syn. 1. Struggle. 4. Treatise, di ertation, disquisition, paper, tract, tractate. See definition of treatise . e ay (e-sa'), v . t . [The older E. form is a ay , q. v.; a ayen , asayen , a aien , asaien , try, make trial of, asaier , e ayer , F. es sayer = Pr. a aiar , e aier = Sp. ensayar = Pg. ensaiar = It. saggiare , a aggiare , try; from the noun.] 1. To make trial of; attempt; exert one's power or faculties upon; put to the test: as, to e ay a difficult feat; to e ay the courage of a braggart. While I this unexampled task e ay . Sir R. Black more, Creation, i. =Syn. 1. Undertake , Endeavor , etc. See attempt . e ayer (e-sā'ér), n. 1. One who e ays or attempts to do something; one who makes trial. -2 (es'ā-er). One who writes e ays; an e ayist. [Rare.] A thought in which he hath been followed by all the es sayers upon friendship that have written since his time. Add is on, Spectator, No. 68.