Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) An effort made, or exertion of body or mind, for the performance of anything; a trial; attempt; as, to make an essay to benefit a friend.

2. (n.) A composition treating of any particular subject; -- usually shorter and less methodical than a formal, finished treatise; as, an essay on the life and writings of Homer; an essay on fossils, or on commerce.

3. (n.) An assay. See Assay.

4. (n.) To exert one's power or faculties upon; to make an effort to perform; to attempt; to endeavor; to make experiment or trial of; to try.

5. (n.) To test the value and purity of (metals); to assay. See Assay.