Since late 16th century, borrowed fromMiddle Frenchessay,essai(“essay”), meaningcoined byMontaigne at the same time, from the same words with the earlier meanings 'experiment; assay; attempt', fromOld Frenchessay,essai,assay,assai, fromLatinexagium(“weight; weighing, testing on the balance”), fromexigere +-ium.
essay (pluralessays)
- (publishing) A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, inAmerican Scientist[1], volume101, number 1, archived fromthe original on9 February 2017, page64:In his first book since the 2008essay collectionNatural 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) Atest,experiment; anassay.
- (now rare) Anattempt.
1861, E. J. Guerin,Mountain Charley, page16:My firstessay 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, published2003, page455:This was Lee's firstessay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark.
- (philately, finance) A proposed design for apostage stamp or abanknote.
written composition
- Albanian:ese (sq) f
- Arabic:مَقَالَة f(maqāla),بَحْث (ar) m(baḥṯ)
- Armenian:շարադրություն (hy)(šaradrutʻyun),էսսե (hy)(ēsse)
- Assamese:ৰচনা(rosona)
- Azerbaijani:esse (az),inşa,oçerk,məqalə (az)
- Bashkir:инша(inşa)(in high school)
- Belarusian:твор m(tvor),эсэ́ n(esé),на́рыс m(nárys)
- Bengali:প্রবন্ধ (bn)(probondho)
- Bulgarian:есе́ (bg) n(esé),съчине́ние (bg) n(sǎčinénie),о́черк (bg) m(óčerk)
- Burmese:စာစီစာကုံး (my)(cacicakum:),စာတမ်းငယ် (my)(catam:ngai)
- Catalan:redacció (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Cantonese:作文(zok3 man4-2)
- Mandarin:雜文 /杂文 (zh)(záwén),論文 /论文 (zh)(lùnwén),作文 (zh)(zuòwén)
- Czech:esej (cs) m
- Danish:essay n,stil (da) c
- Dutch:essay (nl) n,opstel (nl) n,essai n
- Esperanto:eseo
- Estonian:essee,kirjand
- Finnish:essee (fi),kirjoitelma (fi);aine (fi),ainekirjoitus (fi)(in school)
- French:essai (fr) m,rédaction (fr) f,dissertation (fr) f
- Galician:ensaio m
- Georgian:ესე(ese),თხზულება(txzuleba)
- German:Aufsatz (de) m,Essay (de) n
- Greek:δοκίμιο (el) n(dokímio),πραγματεία (el) f(pragmateía),έκθεση (el) f(ékthesi),σύγγραμα n(sýngrama)
- Ancient Greek:μελετήματα f(meletḗmata)
- Hebrew:מַסָּה (he) f(masá)
- Hindi:निबंध (hi) m(nibandh)
- Hungarian:esszé (hu)
- Icelandic:ritgerð (is) f
- Ido:esayo (io)
- Indonesian:esai (id)
- Irish:aiste f
- Italian:saggio (it) m,ricerca (it) f,studio (it) m
- Japanese:エッセイ (ja)(essei),随筆 (ja)(ずいひつ, zuihitsu)
- Kazakh:эссе(ésse),шығарма (kk)(şyğarma),очерк(oçerk),мақала (kk)(maqala)
- Khmer:អត្ថបទ(ʼatthaʼbɑt)
- Korean:수필(隨筆) (ko)(supil),에세이(esei)
- Kyrgyz:эссе(esse),дилбаян(dilbayan),очерк(ocerk)
- Latin:meditatio,meletemata
- Latvian:eseja f
- Lithuanian:esė f
- Macedonian:есеј m(esej)
- Malagasy:lahateny,kabary (mg),famelabelaran-kevitra
- Malay:karangan (ms)
- Malayalam:ഉപന്യാസം (ml)(upanyāsaṁ)
- Māori:tuhingaroa
- Marathi:निबंध (mr) m(nibandha)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål:essay n
- Pashto:مقاله f(maqāla)
- Persian:مقاله (fa)(maqâle),جستار (fa)(jostâr)
- Polish:esej (pl) m,wypracowanie (pl) n,rozprawka (pl) f
- Portuguese:ensaio (pt) m,redação (pt) f
- Romanian:eseu (ro) n
- Russian:сочине́ние (ru) n(sočinénije),эссе́ (ru) n(essɛ́),о́черк (ru) m(óčerk)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic:ѐсе̄ј m
- Latin:èsēj (sh) m
- Slovak:esej (sk) m
- Slovene:esej m
- Spanish:ensayo (es) m,redacción (es) f,monografía (es) f,composiciónescrita f
- Swahili:insha (sw) classn
- Swedish:uppsats (sv) c,essä (sv) c
- Tagalog:sanaysay
- Tajik:мақола (tg)(maqola),навиштор(navištor),иншо(inšo)
- Tatar:инша (tt)(inşa)
- Telugu:వ్యాసము (te)(vyāsamu)
- Thai:ความเรียง (th)(kwaam-riiang)
- Turkish:deneme (tr),kompozisyon (tr)
- Ukrainian:есе́ n(esé),есе́й m(eséj),твір (uk) m(tvir),на́рис m(nárys)
- Urdu:مَقالَہ(maqālā),اِنشائِیَہ(inśāiyā),مَضْمُون (ur) m(mazmūn)
- Uyghur:ماقالە (ug)(maqale)
- Uzbek:insho (uz),esse (uz),ocherk (uz),maqola (uz)
- Vietnamese:tiểu luận (vi)
- Welsh:traethawd (cy) m,ysgrif (cy) f
- Yiddish:עסיי m(esey)
- Yoruba:àròkọ
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FromMiddle Frenchessayer,essaier, fromOld Frenchessaiier,essayer,essaier,assaiier,assayer,assaier, fromessay,essai,assay,assai(“attempt; assay; experiment”) as above.
essay (third-person singular simple presentessays,present participleessaying,simple past and past participleessayed)
- (dated, transitive) Toattempt ortry.
Shall weessay a walk on the promenade?
1900,Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter II, inThe House Behind the Cedars:He retraced his steps to the front gate, which heessayed to open.
1950 April, R. A. H. Weight, “They Passed by My Window”, inRailway Magazine, page260:The train took the slow to branch spur at the north end at a not much slower speed, thenessayed 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”, inSCP Foundation[2], archived fromthe original on22 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 toessay before she reached her destination.
- (intransitive) Tomove forth, as into battle.
Borrowed fromEnglishessay(“essay”), fromMiddle Frenchessai(“essay; attempt, assay”), fromOld Frenchessai, fromLatinexagium (whence the neuter gender).
- IPA(key): /ɛˈseː/,/ˈɛ.seː/
- Hyphenation:es‧say
- Rhymes:-eː
essay n (pluralessays,diminutiveessaytje n)
- essay
- Synonyms:opstel,paper
Borrowed fromEnglishessay, fromMiddle Frenchessai.
essay n (definite singularessayet,indefinite pluralessayoressayer,definite pluralessayaoressayene)
- anessay, a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject
Borrowed fromEnglishessay, fromMiddle Frenchessai.
essay n (definite singularessayet,indefinite pluralessay,definite pluralessaya)
- anessay, a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject
