essay

See also: Essay

English

Etymology 1

From Middle French essai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛˌseɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛseɪ

Noun

essay (plural essays)

1. (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, 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.”

2. (obsolete) A test, experiment; an assay.
3. (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.

4. (philately, finance) A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote.

Derived terms

• photo essay

Related terms

• essayist
• essayistic

Translations

written composition

• Ancient Greek: μελετήματα f (meletḗmata)
• Arabic: مَقَالَة f (maqāla), بَحْث (ar) m (baḥṯ)
• Armenian: շարադրություն (hy) (šaradrutʻyun), էսսե (hy) (ēsse)
• Assamese: ৰচনা (rosona)
• Bashkir: инша (inşa) (in high school)
• Bulgarian: есе (bg) n (ese), съчинение (bg) n (sǎčinenie)
• Catalan: redacció (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 作文 (zok³ man^4-2)

  Mandarin: 雜文／杂文 (zh) (záwén), 杂文 (zh) (záwén), 論文／论文 (zh) (lùnwén), 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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) (kwaam-riiang)
• 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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

• IPA^(key): /ɛˈseɪ/, /ˈɛˌseɪ/

Verb

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

1. (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.

2. (intransitive) To move forth, as into battle.

Translations

To try

• Bulgarian: опитвам се (opitvam se)
• Danish: prøve (da), forsøge (da)
• Finnish: yrittää (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: αποπειρώμαι (el) (apopeirómai), δοκιμάζω (el) (dokimázo)
• Portuguese: ensaiar (pt), tentar (pt)
• Turkish: sınamak (tr), denemek (tr)

Anagrams

• Sayes, Sesay, eyass

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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)

1. an essay, a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject

Derived terms

• essaysamling

References

• “essay” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English essay, from Middle French essai.

Noun

essay n (definite singular essayet, indefinite plural essay, definite plural essaya)

1. an essay, a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject

Derived terms

• essaysamling

References

• “essay” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.