esquamulose 
esquamulose (c-skwMin ' ii-16s), a. [< NL. 
'estjiiiiHiiiliixiix, < \,. r- priv. + XL. /;//, 
dim. of L. squama, a scale: see squnnnil<>x<-.\ 
In hot., without squamulo) or minute scales. 
-esque. [< F. -exque, < It. -escn, < OHO. -isc, 
MIKi. (i. -ixi'li = AS. -ixc, K. -)\7/l, ii l.j. siil'- 
flx, =L. -iseiui, a dim. suffix of nouns: see-iaA 1 
and -ixciix, -IN/,-.] A termination in adjectives 
of French or other Romance origin, meaning 
' having the style or manner of,' as in grotesque, 
iiictitri'xyiir.tii-ii/ifst/iic. .!//<,</<. lhinttsquc,ett.: 
Esquimau, .; j>l. /-'.//((.'. See Kxl;ini<>. 
esquire 1 (es-kwir'), . [< OF. <..<////, </>/-, 
I'xi'iii/fi; mi esquire, shield-bearer, alsoa sliield- 
maker, moil. I 1 '. <'citi/i'r = I'r. exrudier, escu- 
der, escitirr = Sp. esciutrro = Pg. cscudeiro = It. 
scuilit >-i, xfinlicro, < ML. scutariits, a squire, 
a shield-bearer, shield-maker, < L. scutum, a 
shield: see scutum, scute, scutage, escutcheon, 
scutcheon, etc. Hence, by apheresis (though ac- 
tually older in E.), squire, q. v.] If. A shield- 
bearer or armor-bearer ; an armiger ; an atten- 
dant on a knight. Sec //;<', 1. 2. A title 
of dignity next in degree below that of knight. 
In England this title is properly given to the eldest sons 
of knights and the eldest sons of the younger sons of no- 
blemen and their eldest sons in succession, officers of the 
king's courts and of the household, barristers, Justices of 
the peace while in commission, sheriffs, gentlemen who 
have held commissions in the army and navy, etc. There 
are also esquires of knights of the Batli, each knight ap- 
pointing three at his installation. The title is now usu- 
ally conceded to all professional and literary men. In the 
United States the title is regarded as belonging especially 
to lawyers. In legal and other formal documents Enquire 
is usually written in full after the names of those consid- 
ered entitled to the designation : in common usage it is 
abbreviated Esq. or Ktqr., and appended to any man's 
name as a mere mark of respect, as in the addresses of 
letters (though this practice is becoming less prevalent 
than formerly). In the general sense, and as a title either 
alone or prefixed to a name, the form Squire has always 
been the more common in familiar use. See squire. 
I am Robert Shallow, sir ; a poor esquire of this county, 
and one of the king's justices of the peace. 
SAat.,2Hen. IV., ill. 2. 
Esquires and gentlemen are confounded together by Sir 
Edward Coke, who observes that every esquire is a gentle- 
man, and a gentleman Is denned to he one qui anna gerit, 
who bears coat-armour, the grant of which was thought 
to add gentility to a man's family. It is indeed a matter 
somewhat unsettled what constitutes the distinction, or 
who is a real attain ; for no estate, however large, per se 
confers this rank upon its owner. 
1 Broom ami Had. Com. (Wait's ed.X p. 317. 
The office of the esquire consisted of several depart- 
ments ; the esquire for the body, the esquire of the cham- 
ber, the esquire of the stable, and the carving esquire; 
the latter stood in the hall at dinner, carved the different 
dishes, and distributed them to the guests. 
Stntlt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 10. 
It makes an important practical difference to an Eng- 
lishman, by the way, whether he is legally rated as Esquire 
or "Gentleman," the former class being exempt from 
some burthensome jury duties to which the latter is sub- 
ject. C. A. Bruited, English University, p. 408, note. 
3. A gentleman who attends or escorts a lady 
in public. Esquire bedel. See bedel. 
esquire't (es-kwir'), v. t. [< esquire*, H.] To at- 
tend ; wait on ; escort, as a gentleman attend- 
ing a lady in public. Totld. See squire 1 , v. 
esquire- (es-kwir' ), . [< OF. esquiere, esquierre, 
esquarre, a square : see square and squire^.] In 
her., a bearing somewhat resembling the gyron, 
but extending across the field so that the point 
touches the opposite edge of the escutcheon. 
esquirearchy (es-kwir'ar-ki), . [< esquire 1 + 
MS in liirritrehu, oliijarchy, etc., < Gr. 
rule. Cf. squirearchy.] The dignity or 
rank of an esquire ; squirearchy. [Rare.] 
As to tlie tender question of esquirearctty, I am con- 
vinced that the only prudent principle now is to bestow 
the envied title on every i>ne alike. 
Mrs. Chat. Meredith, My Home in Tasmania, p. 317. 
CSS, OS 1 (es), H. [< ME. e.s, ess, < AS. ess, < L. 
' <. the name of the letter S, s, < e, the usual 
assistant vowel in forming the names of let- 
ters, + *.] 1. The name of the letter <S, s. 
It is rarely so written, the symbol 8, s, being 
used iii its stead. 2. A large worm: so called 
from its often assuming the shape of an S. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
-688. [(1) Early mod. E. also -esse, -issc, -is, < 
ME. -/,r. -ixxc, < (<i) OF. -esse, F. -esse, (b) AS. 
-isse (as in abbodisse, abbess), < L. -issa, (. Gr. 
-taaa (i. e., -t-caa, the vowel i and sometimes the 
first a-, in that case orig. T-, prop, belonging to 
the stem of the noun), a fern, suffix of adjec- 
tives, and nouns from adjectives, orig. com- 
pound, (. -K (as iu -i-i\6-f, L. -i-cu-s, E. -ie) + -ya 
(as in -to-f, L. -iu-s, fern, -(a, L. -ia), both common 
Indo-Eur. formative*. (2) In some words, as in 
<//>>< w. -cvs-i-iii reduced form of Latin -trix,-tri- 
<rw, in E. usually -trexx, us in itctrrxx, directress, 
2007 
etc., fern, forms usually associated with masc. 
ones in - lor, -tress being in popular apprehension 
equiv. to -lor + -e(l).] A sufliv theoretically 
attachable to any noun denoting an (originally 
masculine) agent, to form a noun denoting a 
female agent, as hostess, abbess, prioress, rliiij- 
luiiitsx, /iiitlinri'.is,ete. It la most frequent with mums 
in -<vi , its /"/Af/vxg, ttreweress, Quakeress, etc. In such 
uonls as ntxt, >'' ,-e*s, directress, editress. Mistress, visi. 
trees, etc., the suffix is really -tress(Ke -tress), but in popu- 
lar apprehension it is -CM added to the termination of the 
corresponding masculines, instructor, director, edit" 
ter (W(/*'<T), ri*iiin-, eU*., such masculines lieing usually in 
pronunciation, and sometimes in spelling, assimilated to 
native English nouns in -er, as ilir<-<-li-i; i/ixlntcter, tnsiter, 
etc., editor as if 'editor, etc. In some cases the feminine 
fonn exists, while the masculine form is obsolete, as in 
governess (governor in a corresponding sense being obso- 
lete) ; mistress, used in some senses without a correspond- 
ing use of mister or Master. 
essay (es'a, formerly e-sa'), 11. [The older E. 
fonn is assay, q. v. ; < ME. assay, asay, assai, 
asaie, trial, attempt, < OF. asai, essai, essay (later 
only essai, > later E. essay), mod. F. essai = Pr. 
essay = Sp. ensayo = Pg. ensaio = It. saggio, 
assay, trial, experiment, < LL. exflj/ixm, a weigh- 
ing, a weight, a balance, < L. "exagere, ejcigrre, 
pp. exactus, drive out, require, exact, examine, 
try, < ex, out, + agere, drive, lead, bring, etc. 
See examen, examine, from the same source. 
The Gr. f^dytov, sometimes quoted as the origin 
of the L. exayium, is rare LGr., and is taken 
from the L. term ; it denotes a certain weight, 
1J drachmae. Popular etym. altered the form to 
tj&ytaf, as if < cf = E. sir.] 1. A trial, attempt, 
or endeavor ; an effort made ; exertion of body 
or mind to perform or accomplish anything: 
an essay toward reform ; an essay of strength. 
All th' admirable Creatures made beforn, 
Which Heav'n and Earth and Ocean doo adorn, 
Are but Essays, compar'd in every part 
To this divinest Master- Piece of Art. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, I. 6. 
Your essay in crossing the channel gave us great hopes 
you would experience little Inconvenience on the rest of 
the voyage. Je/erson, Correspondence, I. 331. 
Well hast thou done, great artist Memory, 
In setting round thy first experiment 
With royal frame-work of wrought gold ; 
Needs must thou dearly love thy first essay. 
Tennyson, Ode to Memory. 
My i'*,--ii>r in the profession after which my soul had 
longed was an ignoble failure. 
Arch. Forbes, Souvenirs of some Continents, p. 42. 
2. An experimental trial ; a test. 
I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote this but 
as an essay or taste of my virtue. Shak., Lear, i. 2. 
The Poet here represents the Supreme Being as making 
an Kimy of his own Work, and putting to the tryal that 
reasoning Faculty with which he had endued his Creature. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 345. 
3f. An assay or test of the qualities of a metal. 
See assay, H. 4. In lit., a discursive composi- 
tion concerned with a particular subject, usual- 
ly shorter and less methodical and finished than 
a treatise ; a short disquisition : as, an rx.-tni on 
the life and writings of Homer; an essay on fos- 
sils ; an essay on commerce. 
To write just treatises reqnireth leisure in the writer 
and leisure iu the reader, . . . which is the cause that 
hath made me choose to write certain brief notes, set down 
rather significantly than curiously, which I have called 
Essays. The word is late, but the tiling is ancient. 
Bacon, To Prince Henry. 
Seneca's Epistles to Lucillus, if one mark them well, are 
but Essays, that is dispersed meditations, though conveyed 
in the form of epistles. K. A. Abbott, Bacon, p. 438. 
The essay is properly a collection of notes, indicating 
certain aspects of a subject, or suggesting thought con- 
cerning it, rather than the orderly or exhaustive treatment 
of it. It is not a formal siege, but a series of assaults, es- 
says, or attempts upon it. It does not pursue its theme 
like a pointer, but goes hither and thither like a bird to 
find material for its nest, or a bee to get honey for its 
comb. ,VCMT Princeton Kev.,l\. 228. 
To take the essay ' (of a dish), to tr) 1 it by tasting : for- 
merly done iu great houses by the steward or the master 
carver. Nares. 
To come and uncover the meat, which was served in 
covered dishes, then talcing the essay with a square slice 
of bread which was prepared for that use and purpose. 
Q. Rote, Instruct, for Officers of the Mouth (1682), p. 20. 
= Syn. 1. Struggle. 4. Treatise, dissertation, disquisi- 
tion, paper, tract, tractate. See definition of treatise. 
essay (e-sa'), v. t. [The older E. form is assay, 
q. v. ; < ME. assayen, asayen, assaien, asaien, 
try, make trial of, < OF. axaier, essayer, F. es- 
sayer = Pr. assaiar, essaier = Sp. ensayar = 
Pg. ciisnittr = It. xniiiiiiiri; axxtii/iiiurr, try; from 
the noun.] 1. To make trial of; attempt; 
exert one's power or faculties upon; put to the 
test: as, to essay a difficult feat ; to essay the 
courage of a braggart. 
While I this unexampled task rs*air. 
>'/< A'. Illtittmore, Creation, i. 
essence 
Then iu my madness I essay' d the door : 
It gave. Tennyion, Holy Grill. 
A ml twice or thrice he feebly nsai/i 
A trembling hand with the knife to raise. 
H'lfittier, Mogg Megone. 
2f. To try and test the value and purity of, as 
metals. Now written assay (which see). 
The standard of our mint bring now settled, the rules 
and methods of essaying suited to it should remain unva- 
liable. Locke. 
-Syn. 1. Undertake, Endeavor, etc. See attempt. 
essayer (e-sa'er), w. 1. One who essays or at- 
tempts to do something ; one who makes trial. 
2 (es'a-er). One who writes essays; an es- 
sayist, j l;.-n-e.] 
\ thought in which he hath been followed by all the << 
Miyrrs upon friendship that have written since his time. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 68. 
essayette(es-a-yet'), n. [F.,<egayer,test: see 
essay, v.} Inceram., a piece used as a test of 
all the contents of a kiln, by means of which 
the degree of baking of the other pieces in the 
kiln can be judged. The essayette is put where 
it can easily be seen by a person looking through 
the montre. 
essayish (es'a-ish), a. [< essay + -isA 1 .] Re- 
semoling or having the character of an essay. 
Carefully clalwrated, confessedly estayish; but spoken 
with perfect art and consummate management. 
Trcctlyan, Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, II. 281. 
essayist (es'a-ist), n. [= F. essayiste; as essay 
+ -is?.] A writer of an essay ; one who prac- 
tises the writing of essays. 
Such are all the essayists, even their master Montaigne. 
B. Jonsim, Discoveries. 
I make, says a gentleman essayist of our author's age, 
as great difference between Tacitus and Seneca's style and 
bis [Cicero's] as musicians between Trenchmore and La- 
chrynue. B. Jonmtn, Masques. 
"If then," said the gentleman, ... "if I am not to 
have admittance as an essayist, I hope I shall not l>e re- 
pulsed as an historian." Holdtmith, A Reverie. 
essayistic (es-a-is'tik), a. [< essayist + -'<;.] 
Pertaining to or characteristic of an essay or of 
an essayist. 
Good specimens of De Quincey's writings autobio- 
graphical, imaginative, narrative, critical, and essayistic. 
H. H'. Beecher, quoted in Independent, May 29, 182. 
CBS-cock (es'kok), H. The European water-ou- 
zel or dipper, Cinclits aquaticus. [Aberdeen, 
Scotland.] C. Swainson. 
essed, esseda (es'ed, es'e-da), w. [L. essedum, 
later also fern, esseda, of 'old Celtic origin.] A 
heavy two-wheeled war-chariot, used by the 
ancient Britons and Gauls, and adopted at 
Rome as a pleasure vehicle. 
British chariots have been described by Roman histori- 
ans as consisting of two kinds, called respectively the co- 
vina and the esseda ; tills last from esse, a Celtic word. 
The former was very heavy and armed with scythes, the 
latter much lighter, and consequently Iwtter calculated 
for use in situations where it would lie difficult to employ 
the covina. E. M. Stratton, World on Wheels, p. 250. 
essence (es'ens), . [= D. essence = G. essenz 
= Dan. Sw. "esttens, < F. essence = Pr. essentia = 
Sp. esencia = Pg. essencia = It. essenzia (obs.), 
essenza, < L. essentia, the being or essence of a 
thing, an artificial formation from esse (as if 
< *essen(t-)s, ppr.), to translate Gr. trivia, being, < 
<jv (OIT-), ppr. of cl-vat = L. es-se, be: see am (un- 
der be 1 ), and ens, entity.'] 1. The inward nature, 
true substance, or constitution of anything. 
The Greek ovaia. (see the etymology) denotes a subject m 
esse, something whose mode of being corresponds to that 
of a subject, as distinguished from a predicate, in speech. 
But while this is the original conception, the word essence, 
even in Latin, usually carries a different sense. The es- 
sence is rather the idea of a thing, the law of its being, 
that which makes it the kind of thing that It is. that 
which is expressed in its definition. In regard to artificial 
things, the conception of an essence is usually tolerably 
clear ; thus, the essence of a bottle is that it should be 
a vessel with a tubular orifice. Those philosophers who 
speak of the essences of natural things hold that natural 
kinds are regulated by similar ideas. Nominalists hold 
that definitions do not belong to things, but to words : and 
accordingly they speak of the essences of words, meaning 
what is directly implied in their definitions. 
Justice In her very essence is all strength and activity. 
Milton, EikonoklasU's, xxviii. 
First, essence may be taken for the being of anything, 
whereby it is what it is. And thus the real internal, but 
generally in substances unknown, constitution of things, 
whereon their discoverable qualities depend, may be 
called their essence. . . . Secondly, . . . hut, it being evi- 
dent that things are ranked under names into sorts or spe- 
cies only as they agree to certain abstract ideas, to which 
we have annexed those names, the essence of each genus 
or sort comes to lie nntbint! but that abstract idea which 
the general or sortal (if I may have leave so to call it from 
sort, as I do general from genus) name stands for. And 
this we shall And to be that which the word essence Im- 
ports in its most familiar use. These two sorts of essences, 
I suppose, may not unfitly IK- termed, the one the real, 
the other the nominal, essence. 
/.c.-Jv. Muiium t nderstandiug. III. iii. 15. 
