English
essay
Essay comes from Middle French essay, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600essay1
- Englishearliest quotation 1861essay1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English essay
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley: “My first essay at getting employment was fruitless; but…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, English essayroot named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600essayWiktionary, English essay
- Englishearliest quotation 1861essayWiktionary, English essay. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley: “My first essay at getting employment was fruitless; but…”
The story
Since late 16th century, borrowed from Middle French essay, essai (‘essay’), meaning coined by Montaigne at the same time, from the same words with the earlier meanings 'experiment; assay; attempt', from Old French essay, essai, assay, assai, from Latin exagium (‘weight; weighing, testing on the balance’), from exigere + -ium.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-
act, action, active, agency, activity, actual, agent, strategy, actor, register, suggest, agenda, acre, activate, gesture, agony, ambiguous, squat, congestion, digest, agile, ambiguity, agility, antagonist, agrarian, agitation, belligerent, axiom, antagonism, progesterone, agonist, gestation, radium, ingestion, actuator, cogent, agitate, antagonize, ingest, actuation, 150 more
Another origin of essay
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400essaiier
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600essayer‘to test’
- Englishtodayessay
Today it means
noun A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “essay”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / essay