essai

Meaning

1. (masculine) try, trial
2. (masculine) assay
3. (masculine) try
4. (masculine) essay, composition of moderate length exploring a particular issue or subject

Concepts

test

essay

trial

try

attempt

experiment

assay

go

rehearsal

tryout

effort

trial run

draft

shot

check

endeavor

endeavour

proof

testing

experimentation

composition

struggle

temptation

test run

thesis

treatise

trial period

trials

try-out

willingness

work

writing

belletrism

dummy run

trial2

psychometric test

mental test

miscellaneous writings

test procedure

mental testing

the whole shooting match

article

testing and passing

aspiration

bid

enterprise

essays

exertion

experiments

goal

guess

labor

lost cause

paper

pass

prob

probation

proving

rehearse

run

run-through

sampler

shot in the dark

Synonyms

test

épreuve

expérience

tentative

examen

procès

dissertation

rédaction

expérimentation

tentation

effort

réaction

signe

spécimen

thèse

traité

expérience scientifique

persévérance

vérification

écrits divers

attentons

critère

essayons

dégustation

diagnostic

échantillon

entreprise

esquisse

étude

jugement

mémoire

mesure

procédé

Pronounced as (IPA)

/e.sɛ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French, from Old French essai, from Late Latin exagium (“weighing”), hence English assay (compare also Spanish ensayo), from Latin exigō; the original sense of "trial" (if the gold is good) drifted towards a general meaning of "attempt". The literary meaning is given by Michel de Montaigne's masterpiece.

Sentences

Chessex dialogue avec lui-même dans cet essai .

Chessex dialogues with himself in this essay.

Il est l'auteur d’un essai consacré à la poésie de Nietzsche.

He is the author of an essay devoted to Nietzsche's poetry.