essay

noun

1. A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.

   “In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.””

2. (obsolete)A test, experiment; an assay.
3. (archaic)An attempt.

   “My first essay at getting employment was fruitless; but after no small number of mortifying rebuffs from various parties to whom I applied for assistance, I was at last rewarded by a comparative success.”

   “This was Lee's first essay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark.”

4. A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote.

verb

1. (dated, transitive)To attempt or try.

   “Shall we essay a walk on the promenade?”

   “He retraced his steps to the front gate, which he essayed to open.”

   “The train took the slow to branch spur at the north end at a not much slower speed, then essayed the short sharply curved climb with a terrific roar, smoke rising straight from the chimney to a height of some 60 ft., the long train twisting and curling behind.”

   “They, at least, had talked about it. And however full of death and darkness their accounts had been, they'd at least essayed a certain personal honesty.”

2. (intransitive)To move forth, as into battle.