Essample

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for an example or model, especially one offered as a pattern for others to imitate
2. Old-fashioned word meaning a instance or pattern set forth as something to be copied or learned from
3. A dated noun for a representative case or exemplar, meant to guide conduct or serve as a lesson

Etymology: Essample is an older English form of "example," and its history is mostly a matter of French spelling habits. It entered Middle English in the 14th century, borrowed from Old French "essample," which came from Latin "exemplum," meaning a sample, pattern, or copy. Latin "exemplum" was itself built from "eximere," to take out, a verb made of "ex," out, and "emere," to take, so an example was literally something taken out of a larger whole to show what the rest is like. The word spread through Middle English religious and moral writing, where an "essample" was a short story or model case that taught a lesson. Chaucer and other medieval writers used it in exactly this sense, so the noun carried the idea of a moral illustration long before it meant a single instance of something. Both forms existed side by side for a while, and "example" eventually won out, partly because later writers restored the Latin-looking spelling. "Essample" survived mainly in poetry and archaic usage, which is why it still reads as old-fashioned today.

Synonyms: example, instance, specimen, sample