ensayar

Forms

ensayar (first-person singular present ensayo, first-person singular preterite ensayé, past participle ensayado)^[1] Old Spanish also had asayar “to try”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish ensayo (“trial, test”) + -ar.^[4][1][5] The verb is recorded earlier than the noun (in the Cid, against Berceo for the noun), and it is common to the Romance languages: Italian assaggiare, French essayer, Occitan essajar, Catalan assajar and Portuguese ensaiar.^[6][5] Cejador, by contrast, held that the noun was formed from the verb.^[3]

The noun continues exagium (“act of weighing”), of the same origin as exigō (“to weigh, examine”) and exāmen (“weighing, examination”); the sense “test, trial” goes back to Latin times.^[6][7] The initial ⟨en-⟩ continues Latin ⟨ex-⟩, as in ensanchar and enjugar.^[6] Covarrubias took the verb from the Tuscan word, and the Diccionario de Autoridades from Latin examinare.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) a knight hopes to “try” his arms: si ploguiesse a Dios querríalas ensayar “if it pleased God I would like to try them out”.^[10] Menéndez Pidal notes three senses in the poem: “to try, use”, “to attack”, and in the reflexive “to strive” in battle.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Berceo uses it for putting a person to the test (ensayar est omne, c. 1236), and the Libro de Alexandre for “to undertake, attack”.^[10][6] Alfonso X's prose has “to test before use”, “to train” and “to attempt”.^[12] The assaying of gold and silver is documented in the Americas from 1526, and Covarrubias notes that the mints had an office of ensayador “assayer”.^[13][8]

The Diccionario de Autoridades added the rehearsal of plays, tournaments and other festivities before their public performance, and Terreros the rehearsal of a concert.^[9][14] The sense “to attempt” is now obsolete.^[4] In the Canary Islands ensayar means to excite someone, above all a child, too much.^[15][16]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has querríalas ensayar.^[10][6]
• c. 1236 – Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo uses it for testing a man.^[10]
• 1272–1275 – Alfonso X's General Estoria uses it for “to train”.^[12]
• 1526 – the first record from the Americas, in Panama, of assaying gold.^[13]
• 1611 – Covarrubias describes the assaying of metals.^[8]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the rehearsal of plays and festivities.^[9]
• c. 1860 – Pérez Galdós records the Canarian ensayado “merry, excited”.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. To test, try out something before using it.^[4][1]
2. To train, instruct.^[4]
3. To rehearse a show before presenting it to the public: La compañía ensaya la obra cada tarde.^[4][1]
4. To practise any kind of performance before doing it.^[4]
5. To assay ores or precious metals.^[4][1]
6. (obsolete) To suit, sit well.^[4]
7. (obsolete) To attempt, try.^[4]
8. (reflexive) To practise something in order to do it better later.^[4]
9. (Canary Islands) To excite someone, especially a child, too much.^[15]

Word family

• ensayado
• ensayador

Related words

• ensayo
• ensayista
• examen
• exigir
• English assay

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 2486
3. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. s.v. ensayar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. ensayar
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ensayo
6. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 640
7. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. ensayo
8. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 744
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 492
10. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. ensayar
11. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. ensayar
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. ensayar
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. ensayar
14. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 52
15. ^ a b Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. ensayar
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. ensayar