essoin

E1S1S1O1I1N1
/ɪˈsɔɪn/

verb

To excuse for failure to appear in court.

OriginMiddle English essoyne ← Old French essoignier ← Medieval Latin exoniō →
Scrabble 6
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Meanings

verbessoin (third-person singular simple present essoins, present participle essoining, simple past and past participle essoined)

present singular third person essoins · participle present essoining · participle past essoined · past essoined · alternative essoign

  1. UKtransitivelawTo excuse for failure to appear in court.

    I'll not essoin thee.

    1633, Francis Quarles, Divine Poems
noun

alternative essoign

  1. UKobsoletelawAn excuse for not appearing in court at the return of process; the allegation of an excuse to the court.

    [W]ith Rejoinders and Replies, / Long Bills, and Anſvvers, ſtuft vvith Lies, / Demurr, Imparlance, and Eſſoign, / The Parties ne'er could Iſſue join: / For Sixteen Years the Cauſe vvas ſpun, / And then ſtood vvhere it firſt begun.

    1726, [Jonathan Swift], Cadenus and Vanessa. A Poem, London: […] J. Roberts […], →OCLC, page 9
  2. obsoleteExcuse; exemption.

    From euery worke he chalenged essoyne.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 20

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
exculpation

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*sunnju“care, need”
  2. Medieval Latinexoniō
  3. Old Frenchessoignier
  4. Middle Englishessoyne
  5. Englishessoin

Inherited from Middle English essoyne, from Old French essoignier, from Medieval Latin exoniō, essoniō (“excuse oneself; accept an excuse”), from ex- + sonium + -ō, sonium being from Proto-West Germanic *sunnju (“care, need”).

More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

noesisneosisenosisossein
Cite this entry
APA

essoin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essoin

MLA

“essoin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essoin. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “essoin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essoin.

Source: essoin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.