essay

See also: Essay

English

Etymology 1

From Middle French essai.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛˌseɪ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛseɪ

Noun

essay (plural essays)

(authorship) A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
- 2013 January 1, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist‎, volume 101, number 1, 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.
- 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford 2003, p. 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

photo essay

Related terms

Translations

written composition

Ancient Greek: μελετήματα f (meletḗmata)
Arabic: مَقَالَة‎ f (maqāla), بَحْث‎ (ar) m (baḥṯ)
Armenian: շարադրություն (hy) (šaradrutʿyun), էսսե (hy) (ēsse)
Assamese: ৰচনা (rosona)
Bashkir: инша (inša) (in high school)
Bulgarian: есе (bg) n (ese), съчинение (bg) n (sǎčinenie)
Catalan: redacció (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 作文 (zok³ man⁴^-²)

Mandarin: 雜文 (zh), 杂文 (zh) (záwén), 論文 (zh), 论文 (zh) (lùnwén), 作文 (zh) (zuòwén)
Czech: esej (cs) m
Danish: essay, stil (da) c
Dutch: essay (nl) n, opstel (nl) n, essai
Esperanto: eseo
Finnish: essee (fi), kirjoitelma (fi); aine (fi), ainekirjoitus (fi) (in school)
French: essai (fr) m, rédaction (fr) f, dissertation (fr) f
Georgian: ესე (ese)
German: Aufsatz (de) m, Essay (de) n
Greek: δοκίμιο (el) n (dokímio), πραγματεία (el) f (pragmateía), έκθεση (el) f (ékthesi), σύγγραμα n (sýngrama)
Hindi: निबंध (hi) m (nibandh)
Ido: esayo (io)
Indonesian: esai (id)
Irish: aiste f

Italian: saggio (it), ricerca (it) f, studio (it) m
Japanese: エッセイ (essei), 随筆 (ずいひつ, zuihitsu)
Korean: 수필 (ko) (supil) (隨筆 (ko))
Latin: meditatio, meletemata
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: esė f
Malagasy: lahateny (mg), kabary (mg), famelabelaran-kevitra (mg)
Malay: karangan
Maori: tuhingaroa
Polish: esej (pl) m
Portuguese: ensaio (pt) m
Russian: сочине́ние (ru) n (sočinénije), эссе́ (ru) n (essɛ́)
Serbo-Croatian: ogled (sh) m
Slovene: esej m
Spanish: ensayo (es) m, redacción (es) f
Swahili: insha (sw)
Swedish: uppsats (sv) c, essä (sv) c
Tagalog: sanaysay
Telugu: వ్యాసము (te) (vyāsamu)
Thai: ความเรียง (th)
Turkish: deneme (tr), kompozisyon (tr)
Welsh: traethawd (cy) m
Yiddish: עסיי‎ m (esey)

an attempt

Arabic: مُحَاوَلَة‎ (muḥāwala)
Bulgarian: опит (bg) m (opit), проба (bg) f (proba)
Czech: zkouška (cs) f, pokus (cs) m
Dutch: poging (nl) f
German: Versuch (de) m
Greek: δοκιμή (el) f (dokimí), απόπειρα (el) f (apópeira)

Italian: tentativo (it) m, prova (it) f
Portuguese: ensaio (pt) m, tentativa (pt) f
Slovene: poskus (sl) m
Spanish: ensayo (es) m
Turkish: sınama (tr), deneme (tr)

Etymology 2

From Middle French essayer.

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɛˈseɪ/, /ˈɛˌseɪ/

Verb

essay (third-person singular simple present essays, present participle essaying, simple past and past participle essayed)

(dated, transitive) To 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.
(intransitive) To move forth, as into battle.

Translations

To try

Bulgarian: опитвам се (opitvam se)
Danish: prøve (da), forsøge (da)
Finnish: yrittää (fi)

Greek: αποπειρώμαι (el) (apopeirómai), δοκιμάζω (el) (dokimázo)
Portuguese: ensaiar (pt), tentar (pt)
Turkish: sınamak (tr), denemek (tr)

Anagrams

Sayes, Sesay, eyass

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English essay, from Middle French essai.

Noun

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

essaysamling

References

“essay” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English essay, from Middle French essai.

Noun

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

essaysamling

References

“essay” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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