essay

[es-ey, es-ey, e-sey, e-sey]

noun

1. a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.

2. anything resembling such a composition.

   a picture essay.

3. an effort to perform or accomplish something; attempt.

4. Philately.,  a design for a proposed stamp differing in any way from the design of the stamp as issued.

5. Obsolete.,  a tentative effort; trial; assay.

verb (used with object)

1. to try; attempt.

2. to put to the test; make trial of.

essay

noun

1. a short literary composition dealing with a subject analytically or speculatively

2. an attempt or endeavour; effort

3. a test or trial

verb

1. to attempt or endeavour; try

2. to test or try out

essay

1. A short piece of writing on one subject, usually presenting the author's own views. Michel de Montaigne, Francis Bacon (see also Bacon), and Ralph Waldo Emerson are celebrated for their essays.

Other Word Forms

• essayer noun
• preessay verb (used without object)
• unessayed adjective
• well-essayed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of essay¹

First recorded in 1475–85; from Middle French essayer, from Late Latin exagium “a weighing,” from exag(ere) (unrecorded) “to examine, test,” literally, “to drive out, thrust out” (from Latin exigere; exact ) + -ium -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of essay¹

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

Example Sentences

Writing in black pen, Bowie summarised several of the publication's key essays, scoring them out of 10.

From BBC

Then, after a 20-year detour into essays - that split public opinion and earned her both reverence and vilification - and a second novel, Roy has returned with her first memoir.

From BBC

Back on our Zoom call, I ask Mosley whether he was thinking of Raymond Chandler’s seminal 1944 essay “The Simple Art of Murder” and the oft-quoted line “Down these mean streets…” when writing that passage.

From Los Angeles Times

The author and cultural critic is unafraid to label herself a “bad feminist” — the title of her 2014 essay collection — or admit on national TV that, despite being a progressive, she owns a gun.

From Los Angeles Times

Sarah Sophie Flicker shared lessons from Denmark’s resistance to the Nazis during World War II in a recent essay for The Nation.

From Salon

Related Words

• article 
• discussion 
• dissertation 
• manuscript 
• paper 
• piece 
• study 
• thesis 
• treatise