essayer

== English == === Etymology === From essay +‎ -er. === Noun === essayer (plural essayers) (obsolete) One who performs an essay; an experimenter. == French == === Etymology === 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. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /e.sɛ.je/ ~ /e.se.je/ === Verb === essayer (transitive) to test, to try on Essayez cette chemise. ― Try this shirt on. (catenative) to try, to attempt [with de (+ infinitive) ‘to do something’] J'ai essayé d'apprendre le piano. ― I tried to learn [to play] 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. (reflexive) to try one's hand [with à ‘at something’] s'essayer à quelque chose ― to try one's hand at something ==== Conjugation ==== 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). ==== Related terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Dutch: essayeren === Further reading === “essayer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 === Paronyms === essuyer === Anagrams === ressaye, ressayé == Middle French == === Verb === essayer (transitive) to test (catenative) to try, to attempt [with de (+ infinitive) ‘to do something’] ==== Conjugation ==== Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive. == Norwegian Bokmål == === Noun === essayer n indefinite singular of essay ==== Synonyms ==== essay