Where does “essayism” come from?

essayism (English) comes from English essay, from Middle French essai, from Old French essai, from Late Latin exagium, from Latin exigō, from Latin agō, from Proto-Italic agō, from Proto-Indo-European h₂éǵeti — to drive.

essayism (English): The writing style associated with essays

Definitions

  1. The writing style associated with essays

Ancestry of “essayism”, step by step

essayism traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English essay

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishessayA written composition of moderate length,...
2Middle Frenchessaiessay; attempt, assay; essay
3Old Frenchessaitrial
4Late Latinexagiumweight; weighing, testing on the balance;...
5Latinexigōto drive out; expel
6Latinagōto act, to behave
7Proto-Italicagōdrive; push, impel; do, act
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éǵetito be driving
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂eǵ-to drive

via English ism

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishismAn ideology, system of thought, or practice that...
2English-ismUsed to form nouns of action or process or result...
3Latin-ismus-ism
4Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
5Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
6Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂eǵ-