Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense, plural essays, present participle essaying, past tense, past participle essayedpronunciation note: The noun is pronounced (eseɪ). The verb is pronounced (eseɪ).
1. countable noun
An essay is a short piece of writing on one particular subject written by a student.
We asked Jason to write an essay about his hometown and about his place in it. [+ about]
Synonyms: composition, study, paper, article More Synonyms of essay
2. countable noun
An essay is a short piece of writing on one particular subject that is written by a writer for publication.
...Thomas Malthus's essay on population. [+ on]
3. verb
If you essay something, you try to do it.
[formal]
Sinclair essayed a smile but it could hardly have been rated as a success. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: attempt, try, test, take on More Synonyms of essay
Essay is also a noun.
His first essay in running a company was a notoriously tough undertaking.
More Synonyms of essay
essay in British English
noun (ˈɛseɪ, for senses 2, 3 also ɛˈseɪ)
1.
a short literary composition dealing with a subject analytically or speculatively
2.
an attempt or endeavour; effort
3.
a test or trial
verb (ɛˈseɪ)(transitive)
4.
to attempt or endeavour; try
5.
to test or try out
Word origin
C15: from Old French essaier to attempt, from essai an attempt, from Late Latin exagium a weighing, from Latin agere to do, compel, influenced by exigere to investigate
essay in American English
(ɛˈseɪ; for 3 usually, & for 4 always, ˈɛseɪ)
verb transitive
1.
to test the nature or quality of; try out
2.
to try; attempt
noun
3.
a.
a trying or testing
b.
an attempt; trial
4.
a short literary composition of an analytical, interpretive, or reflective kind, dealing with its subject in a nontechnical, limited, often unsystematic way and, usually, expressive of the author's outlook and personality
5.
a proposed design for a new postage stamp or piece of paper money
SIMILAR WORDS: try
Derived forms
essayer (esˈsayer)
noun
Word origin
OFr essayer < VL *exagiare < LL exagium, a weight, weighing < ex-, out of + agere, to do: see act1
Examples of 'essay' in a sentence
essay
The application process included a short essay and a formal interview at the Law Society.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It is an essay about wasted lives.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The essays range from short to very short.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
Please read or review the essay before you read the commentary below.
Bachmann, Susan (editor) & Barth, Melinda Between Worlds: A Reader, Rhetoric and Handbook (1995)
Successive episodes and aspects of this tale are the subject of six essays.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
She does exceptionally well in her teaching practice but she has a blind spot in essay writing.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Four essays sustain the literary focus in the collection.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
The series will also include essays on current affairs.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Would you relish having your student essays dug up and dragged into the light?
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It was like being at school and getting your essay torn to pieces by the teacher.
The Sun (2006)
Often these editions come with long and informative introductory essays and extended commentaries.
Marius, Richard A Short Guide to Writing About History (1995)
Was she surprised by the reaction to her first essay?
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
How well did it forecast what the essay was about?
Goshgarian, Gary Exploring language (6th edn) (1995)
Many of the paragraphs in this essay are short.
Goshgarian, Gary Exploring language (6th edn) (1995)
Stay on the subject throughout your essay so that your argument is not submerged in meaningless detail.
Marius, Richard A Short Guide to Writing About History (1995)
She also neatly essays a couple of subsidiary male roles.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It is said that students need to be reminded to go to lectures and write essays.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The first of the essays did not once mention economic imperialism.
Ramirez-Faria, Carlos The Origins of Economic Inequality between Nations: A critique of Western theorieson development and underdevelopment (1990)
Few memoirs can have been written in conditions of such physical constraint as these short autobiographical essays.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Try outlining answers to the practice questions to improve your skills and as a study review of the essays that you have read.
Bachmann, Susan (editor) & Barth, Melinda Between Worlds: A Reader, Rhetoric and Handbook (1995)
This is not a great essay in historical writing, but a readable and sensible one.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
And they want essays about the Iraq war removed from the curriculum.
The Sun (2008)
Some books are collections of essays, and you may wish to cite only one essay in the group.
Marius, Richard A Short Guide to Writing About History (1995)
In one essay, he turns his fire on the prim consensus that political partisanship is a bad thing.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
As a result Essays remains one of the few academic journals devoted to literary criticism and accessible to the intelligent enthusiast.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Jonah sees this; but in vain he tries to look all ease and confidence; in vain essays his wretched smile.
Herman Melville Moby Dick (1901)
In other languages
essay
British English: essay /ˈɛseɪ/ NOUN
An essay is a piece of writing on a particular subject.
...an essay on Art history.
American English: essay
Arabic: مَقال
Brazilian Portuguese: dissertação
Chinese: 短文
Croatian: esej
Czech: esej
Danish: essay
Dutch: essay
European Spanish: ensayo literario
Finnish: essee
French: dissertation
German: Aufsatz Text
Greek: δοκίμιο
Italian: saggio
Japanese: エッセイ
Korean: 수필
Norwegian: essay
Polish: esej
European Portuguese: dissertação
Romanian: eseu
Russian: эссе
Latin American Spanish: ensayo escrito
Swedish: uppsats
Thai: เรียงความ
Turkish: deneme
Ukrainian: нарис
Vietnamese: bài luận
Chinese translation of 'essay'
essay
(ˈɛseɪ)
n
(Scol) 论(論)文 (lùnwén)
(= paper, discussion) 散文 (sǎnwén)
1 (noun)
Definition
a short piece of writing on a subject done as an exercise by a student
He was asked to write an essay about his home town.
Synonyms
composition
Write a composition on the subject `What I Did on My Holidays'.
study
the first study of English children's attitudes
paper
He has just written a paper on the subject.
article
a newspaper article
piece
an orchestral piece
assignment
discourse
He responds with a lengthy discourse on deployment strategy.
tract
I produced a tract on the dangers of ignoring climate change.
treatise
a lengthy treatise on prison reform
dissertation
He is currently writing a dissertation.
disquisition
She launched into an authoritative disquisition.
SA (textmessaging)
2 (noun)
Definition
an attempt
(formal)
My first essay in running a company was a disaster.
Synonyms
attempt
a deliberate attempt to destabilize defence
go (informal)
It took us two goes to get the colour right.
try
I didn't really expect anything, but it was worth a try.
effort
He made no effort to hide.
shot (informal)
He will be given a shot at the world title.
trial
struggle
a young lad's struggle to support his poverty-stricken family
bid
a bid to silence its critics
test
High levels of dioxin were confirmed by scientific tests.
experiment
a proposed new law banning animal experiments
crack (informal)
I'd love to have a crack at the title next year.
venture
a Russian-American joint venture
undertaking
Organizing the show has been a massive undertaking.
stab (informal)
Several times tennis stars have had a stab at acting.
endeavour
His first endeavours in the field were wedding films.
exertion
panting from the exertion of climbing the stairs
(verb)
Definition
to attempt
(formal)
She essayed a smile, but it was a dismal failure.
Synonyms
attempt
We attempted to do something like that here.
try
He secretly tried to block her advancement in the Party.
test
Test the temperature of the water with your wrist.
take on
undertake
She undertook the arduous task of monitoring the elections.