essayer

From essay +‎ -er.

essayer (plural essayers)

1. (obsolete) One who performs an essay; an experimenter.

Inherited from Middle French essayer, essaier, from Old French essaiier, essayer, essaier, from essay, essai (“attempt; assay; experiment”) + -er (“infinitive-forming suffix”), from Late Latin exagium (“weight; weighing, testing on the balance”), from Latin exigere + -ium, from ex- + agere, from Proto-Italic *agō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti.

• IPA^(key): /e.sɛ.je/ ~ /e.se.je/

• Audio:

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essayer

1. (transitive) to test, to try on

   Essayez cette chemise. ― Try this shirt on.

2. (catenative) to try, to attempt

   J’ai essayé d’apprendre le piano. ― I tried to learn the piano.

   Des psychologues ont essayé d’analyser quels traits physiques étaient considérés comme attirants. ― Psychologists have tried to analyze what physical traits were considered to be attractive.

   • 2018, Zaz, Résigne-moi:

     J’essaie vraiment d’ t’aider sans m’oublier.

     I'm truly trying to help you without forgetting myself.

3. (reflexive) to try one's hand

   s’essayer à quelque chose ― to try one's hand at something

This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer), the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference).

• “essayer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

• essuyer

• ressaye, ressayé

essayer

1. (transitive) to test
2. (catenative) to try, to attempt

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

essayer n

1. indefinite singular of essay

• essay