1) English legal terminology 2) Offer a legal excuse 
In old English law, an essoin is an excuse for nonappearance in court. Essoining is the seeking of the same. The person sent to deliver the excuse to the court is an essoiner or essoineur. There were several kinds of essoins in common law in the Middle Ages: Essoins were originally received at court on essoin day, the first day of the term of the ...
giving of an excuse for not appearing in court
• (n.) Alt. of Essoign • (n.) To excuse for nonappearance in court.
Es·soin' transitive verb [ Old French essoinier , essoignier , essonier , Late Latin essoniare , exoniare . See Essoin , noun ] (Eng. Law) To excuse for nonappearance in court. 'I 'll not essoin thee.' Quarles....
(in England) an excuse for nonappearance in a court of law at the prescribed time.