essay
noun /ˈeseɪ/
/ˈeseɪ/
- a short piece of writing by a student as part of a course of study
- I have to write an essay this weekend.
- essay on something an essay on the causes of the First World War
- essay about somebody/something Have you done your essay about Napoleon yet?
- in an essay He made some very good points in his essay.
Extra ExamplesTopics Educationa2- Essays handed in late will not be accepted.
- Have you done your essay yet?
- He concludes the essay by calling for a corrective.
- I finished my essay about 10 o'clock last night!
- Lunch was the only time she could finish her essay assignment.
- We have to write an essay on the environment.
- You have to answer 3 out of 8 essay questions in the exam.
- the teenage winner of an essay contest
- We have to write an essay on the causes of the First World War.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary… of essays- anthology
- collection
- selection
- …
- do
- write
- finish
- …
- be entitled something
- be titled something
- address something
- …
- question
- title
- topic
- …
- in an/the essay
- essay about
- essay on
- …
- a short piece of writing on a particular subject, written in order to be published
- essay (by somebody) a collection of essays by prominent African American writers
- essay on somebody/something The book contains a number of interesting essays on women in society.
- essay about somebody/something Pierce contributes a long essay about John F. Kennedy.
- in an essay I discuss this in a forthcoming essay.
Extra Examples- A version of this essay was presented at the Astronomical Society.
- In 2001 she published a collection of essays.
- The essays explore Einstein's personal development.
- the fifteen essays collected in this volume
- ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’ by Thomas Malthus
- an essay entitled ‘Memory’
- This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the subject.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary… of essays- anthology
- collection
- selection
- …
- do
- write
- finish
- …
- be entitled something
- be titled something
- address something
- …
- question
- title
- topic
- …
- in an/the essay
- essay about
- essay on
- …
- essay (in something) (formal) an attempt to do something
- His first essay in politics was a complete disaster.
Word Originlate 15th cent. (as a verb in the sense ‘test the quality of’): alteration of assay, by association with Old French essayer, based on late Latin exagium ‘weighing’, from the base of exigere ‘ascertain, weigh’; the noun (late 16th cent.) is from Old French essai ‘trial’.