ESSA'Y, v.t. [L. sequor. See Seek. The radical sense is to press, drive, urge, strain, strive.]
1. To try; to attempt; to endeavor; to exert one's power or faculties, or to make an effort to perform any thing.While I this unexampled task essay.2. To make experiment of.3. To try the value and purity of metals. In this application, the word is now more generally written assay, which see.