Before "honest" meant truthful, it meant held-in-honor — respectable, decent, of good public standing. From Latin honestus, from honos (honor, public regard). The truth-telling sense is recent; the older sense survives in honest work, honest broker, honest to god.

Before "essay" meant a literary form, it meant a weighing. From Late Latin exagium — the act of putting a thought on a balance and watching it move. Montaigne kept the original sense.

Before "patron" meant a paying customer, it meant a protector — Latin patronus, who stood in for those without standing. And in Old French, patron and pattern were the same word: the protector you followed and the model to copy.

Before "venture" meant a risky enterprise, it meant arrival. From Latin advenire — to come to. The risk is downstream of what arrives.