essai

Forms

essai m (plural essais)^[1] Old French and Anglo-Norman essai, assai;^[2][3] Middle French also essay.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin exagium (“weighing, weight”), which in Late Latin also meant a test or trial.^[4][5][6][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Latin word is recorded with the sense of a trial from the 4th century.^[8] It is in turn derived from exigō (“to drive out, to measure, to weigh”), formed from ex- and agō (“to drive, to do”).^[6][9][7]

Cognate with Italian saggio (which lost the prefix) and assaggio, Spanish ensayo and Occitan ensai;^[8][3] Bloch and Wartburg note that the same changes of prefix are found in Gallo-Romance dialects, as Old Lorraine sai and Old Picard assai.^[8] The Anglo-Norman form is the source of the English word assay.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1140 in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne, meaning a trial or an attempt.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

From the general sense of a trial, Old French used the word for facing something for the first time (1168–1191, Chrétien de Troyes), whence coup d'essai, and for the operation that tests the quality of a thing, first of gold in Chrétien's Cligès (1176).^[4][6] À l'essai meant “put to the test” from the 12th century and “on trial” from Marot (about 1530).^[6]

In 1379 it was the tasting of food or drink, and by metonymy (1553) a cup used for tasting; in the 17th century it also meant a sample.^[6] From the mid-16th century the word was used of a beginner's first works, and Montaigne's Essais (1580) gave it the sense of a prose work treating a subject without claiming to exhaust it.^[6][4] The English word essay in the literary sense (1597) was borrowed from it, and French later took back essayiste from English.^[6]

From the 19th century it was used in sport for each attempt of an athlete; in rugby (1892) it translates the English try.^[6] Phrases with d'essai followed: vol d'essai (1907) and cinéma d'essai (about 1950).^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – First recorded in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne as “trial, attempt”.^[4]
• 1168–1191 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for facing something for the first time.^[4][6]
• 1176 – In Chrétien's Cligès it is the testing of gold.^[4]
• 1379 – The inventory of Charles V uses it of tasting.^[7][6]
• c. 1530 – Marot uses à l'essai “on trial”.^[6][7]
• 1580 – Montaigne publishes his Essais.^[4][6]
• 1892 – First used in rugby, after the English try.^[6]
• 1907 – Vol d'essai “test flight” appears.^[6]
• 1957 – Les essais are the trial sessions before a motor race.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A test or trial carried out to check the qualities of a thing before using it: faire l'essai d'une voiture, tube à essai.^[10][4]
2. An attempt or first try: coup d'essai, a first attempt.^[10][6]
3. A prose work treating a subject without claiming to cover it fully; an essay.^[10][6]
4. (rugby) A try.^[1][6]
5. (sports) Each of an athlete's attempts, of which the best is counted.^[6]

Word family

• essayer
• essayeur
• essayage

Related words

• essaim
• examen
• exiger

Usage notes

À l'essai means “on trial”, as in prendre quelqu'un à l'essai;^[6][1] ballon d'essai is a trial balloon, also figuratively a feeler.^[6][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 255b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert