What's an Essay?

Definitions from the WWWebster Dictionary

Main Entry: 1es-say
Pronunciation: e-'sA, &-'sA, 'e-"sA
Function: transitive verb
Date: 14th century
1: to put to a test
2: to make an often tentative or experimental effort to perform : TRY
synonym see ATTEMPT
- es-say-ernoun

Main Entry: 2es-say
Pronunciation: 'e-"sA; senses 1, 2 & 4 also e-'sA
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle Frenchessai,ultimately from Late Latin exagium act of weighing, from ex- + agere to drive -- more at AGENT
Date: 14th century
1: TRIAL, TEST
2 a: EFFORT, ATTEMPT;especially: an initial tentative effort b: the result or product of an attempt
3 a: an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view b: something resembling such a composition <a photographic essay>
4: a proof of an unaccepted design for a stamp or piece of paper money

Return to the Essays cavern of The Cave of Choirs.