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Definition of essay noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

essay

noun
 
/ˈeseɪ/
 
/ˈeseɪ/
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  1. a short piece of writing by a student as part of a course of study
    • I have to write an essay this weekend.
    • essay on something an essay on the causes of the First World War
    • essay about somebody/something Have you done your essay about Napoleon yet?
    • in an essay He made some very good points in his essay.
    Extra Examples
    • Essays handed in late will not be accepted.
    • Have you done your essay yet?
    • He concludes the essay by calling for a corrective.
    • I finished my essay about 10 o'clock last night!
    • Lunch was the only time she could finish her essay assignment.
    • We have to write an essay on the environment.
    • You have to answer 3 out of 8 essay questions in the exam.
    • the teenage winner of an essay contest
    • We have to write an essay on the causes of the First World War.
    Topics Educationa2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionary… of essays
    • anthology
    • collection
    • selection
    verb + essay
    • do
    • write
    • finish
    essay + verb
    • be entitled something
    • be titled something
    • address something
    essay + noun
    • question
    • title
    • topic
    preposition
    • in an/​the essay
    • essay about
    • essay on
    See full entry
  2. a short piece of writing on a particular subject, written in order to be published
    • essay (by somebody) a collection of essays by prominent African American writers
    • essay on somebody/something The book contains a number of interesting essays on women in society.
    • essay about somebody/something Pierce contributes a long essay about John F. Kennedy.
    • in an essay I discuss this in a forthcoming essay.
    Extra Examples
    • A version of this essay was presented at the Astronomical Society.
    • In 2001 she published a collection of essays.
    • The essays explore Einstein's personal development.
    • the fifteen essays collected in this volume
    • ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’ by Thomas Malthus
    • an essay entitled ‘Memory’
    • This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the subject.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionary… of essays
    • anthology
    • collection
    • selection
    verb + essay
    • do
    • write
    • finish
    essay + verb
    • be entitled something
    • be titled something
    • address something
    essay + noun
    • question
    • title
    • topic
    preposition
    • in an/​the essay
    • essay about
    • essay on
    See full entry
  3. essay (in something) (formal) an attempt to do something
    • His first essay in politics was a complete disaster.
  4. Word Originlate 15th cent. (as a verb in the sense ‘test the quality of’): alteration of assay, by association with Old French essayer, based on late Latin exagium ‘weighing’, from the base of exigere ‘ascertain, weigh’; the noun (late 16th cent.) is from Old French essai ‘trial’.
See essay in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee essay in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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