Essay Means an Attempt, and Montaigne Meant It That Way
An essay is a short piece of writing on a subject. The French inventor of the form chose the name because it means a trial or attempt.
An essay is a short piece of writing on a particular subject. Michel de Montaigne named the form in 1580 with deliberate modesty: French *essai* means an attempt or trial, and he meant his pieces as attempts at thinking rather than finished arguments. The word records that the essay is a process, not a verdict. As a verb, *to essay* still means to attempt, though it now sounds literary.
- A short piece of writing. *A school essay.*
- To attempt (formal). *He essayed a smile.*
- Essayist — one who writes essays. *A noted essayist.*
- French — *essai*, an attempt. *The source.*
- Assay — a related word for a test. *A gold assay.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | essay | A long essay. |
| Plural | essays | Collected essays. |
| Verb | essay | He essayed it. |
| Agent | essayist | An essayist. |
| Related | assay | To assay metal. |
- The essay is due on Friday.Academic.
- He essayed a reply.Literary verb.
- Montaigne chose the name in 1580.History.
Essay and its relatives
- Essay — an attempt at a subject in writing
- Assay — a test of the purity of metal, the same root
- Exam — from Latin for weighing, another testing word
- Treatise — a longer, more systematic work
- Article — a piece written for publication
French *essai*, a trial or attempt, from Late Latin *exagium*, a weighing, from *exigere*, to weigh or examine.
Who invented the essay?
Montaigne gave the form its name and shape in 1580, choosing a word meaning attempt to signal that the pieces were exploratory.
Are essay and assay related?
Yes. Both come from a Latin word for weighing. Assay kept the testing sense, essay the writing one.