essay
English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Since late 16th century, borrowed from Middle French essay, essai (“essay”), meaning coined by Montaigne in the same time, from the same words in earlier meanings 'experiment; assay; attempt', from Old French essay, essai, assay, assai, from Latin exagium (“weight; weighing, testing on the balance”), from exigere + -ium.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈɛs.eɪ/ (1), IPA(key): /ɛˈseɪ/ (2-4)
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛseɪ
- Homophone: ese
Noun
[edit]essay (plural essays)
- (authorship) A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
- 2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist[1], volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 9 February 2017, page 64:
- In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.”
- (obsolete) A test, experiment; an assay.
- (now rare) An attempt.
- 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 16:
- My first essay at getting employment was fruitless; but after no small number of mortifying rebuffs from various parties to whom I applied for assistance, I was at last rewarded by a comparative success.
- 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2003, page 455:
- This was Lee's first essay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark.
- (philately, finance) A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
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Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle French essayer, essaier, from Old French essaiier, essayer, essaier, assaiier, assayer, assaier, from essay, essai, assay, assai (“attempt; assay; experiment”) as above.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]essay (third-person singular simple present essays, present participle essaying, simple past and past participle essayed)
- (dated, transitive) To attempt or try.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars:
- He retraced his steps to the front gate, which he essayed to open.
- 1950 April, R. A. H. Weight, “They Passed by My Window”, in Railway Magazine, page 260:
- The train took the slow to branch spur at the north end at a not much slower speed, then essayed the short sharply curved climb with a terrific roar, smoke rising straight from the chimney to a height of some 60 ft., the long train twisting and curling behind.
- 2023 October 12, HarryBlank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation[2], archived from the original on 22 May 2024:
- There was the counter, there was the bulletin board, above her the dull sound of music being played over headphones. Something jaunty. She liked the beat. Then the sound of a chair being pushed back, and someone humming as they walked away from her, and she darted up to plunge the bayonet into their kidneys from behind. A followup stroke through the back of the neck, and the second soldier was down. She didn't even stop to see if it was a man or a woman, young or old. There were further hurdles to essay before she reached her destination.
- (intransitive) To move forth, as into battle.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from English essay (“essay”), from Middle French essai (“essay; attempt, assay”), from Old French essai, from Latin exagium (whence the neuter gender).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]essay n (plural essays, diminutive essaytje n)
Hypernyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- → Indonesian: esai
Norwegian Bokmål
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from English essay, from Middle French essai.
Noun
[edit]essay n (definite singular essayet, indefinite plural essay or essayer, definite plural essaya or essayene)
- an essay, a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- “essay” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from English essay, from Middle French essai.
Noun
[edit]essay n (definite singular essayet, indefinite plural essay, definite plural essaya)
- an essay, a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- “essay” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eǵ-
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