essay
essay
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "essay" is:
/ˈɛs.eɪ/
Syllable Breakdown:
Es-: /ˈɛs/ - The vowel sound is a short "e" as in "bed," followed by an "s" sound.
-say: /eɪ/ - The vowel sound is a diphthong similar to the "ay" in "day."
Word Form Variations
Noun:
Singular: essay
Plural: essays
Verb:
Base form: essay
Third-person singular present: essays
Past tense: essayed
Past participle: essayed
Present participle: essaying
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
Definition 1: A short piece of writing on a particular subject, typically expressing the author's personal viewpoint or an analysis of a topic. These are often assigned in academic settings to demonstrate understanding or critical thinking.
Synonyms: composition, paper, article, treatise, discourse, critique
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms for a written work; however, one might consider "oral presentation" as a conceptual opposite in an academic context, or "summary" if the essay is meant to be exhaustive.)
Definition 2: An attempt or endeavor to accomplish something, often one that involves testing or experimentation.
Synonyms: attempt, endeavor, trial, effort, venture, undertaking
Antonyms: success, achievement, completion, surrender, abandonment
Verb
Definition 1: To attempt or try to perform something; to make an effort. This usage often implies a challenging or experimental undertaking.
Synonyms: attempt, try, undertake, endeavor, venture, strive
Antonyms: succeed, achieve, accomplish, cease, desist
Definition 2: To put to the test; to evaluate or assess the quality or nature of something.
Synonyms: test, try out, evaluate, assess, appraise, analyze
Antonyms: ignore, neglect, overlook, assume, accept
Examples of Use
Books:
"In her collection of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion dissects the cultural landscape of the 1960s with her characteristic sharp prose."
"Michel de Montaigne is often credited with popularizing the essay as a literary form, using it to explore a wide range of personal reflections and philosophical inquiries in his Essays."
Newspapers:
"An opinion essay in The New York Times today argued for increased investment in renewable energy sources." (The New York Times, May 2024)
"The local newspaper ran a winning essay from a high school student competition on the importance of community service." (The Daily Chronicle, June 2025)
Online Publications:
"This long-form essay on The Guardian explores the evolving nature of work in the digital age." (The Guardian, April 2025)
"Visitors to Brain Pickings can find numerous insightful essays on art, philosophy, and the human condition by Maria Popova."
"A recent essay on Medium discussed the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence in creative fields." (Medium, January 2025)
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
"Many literary podcasts feature hosts discussing classic essays or interviewing contemporary essayists about their work." (e.g., The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice, various dates)
"YouTube channels dedicated to film analysis often present their critiques in the form of video essays, blending commentary with visual examples from the movies." (e.g., Nerdwriter1, various dates)
"Some video game critics publish detailed written essays on websites like Eurogamer or Polygon, dissecting game design and narrative themes." (e.g., Eurogamer, March 2025)
General Public Discourse:
"My English professor assigned a five-page essay comparing two different literary theories."
"The job application required applicants to essay their motivations for pursuing a career in public service." (This is a more formal and less common usage of the verb "essay," but still present in specific contexts.)
"After much deliberation, she decided to essay a new career path, even though it meant significant risk."
"That student wrote a brilliant essay for the scholarship competition."
10 Quotes Using Essay
"A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery." - Mao Zedong
"To love is to believe, to hope, to know; 'Tis an essay, a taste of Heaven below!" - Edmund Waller
"A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out." - Virginia Woolf
"We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom." - Michel de Montaigne (from his Essays)
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who amid the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (from his Essay "Self-Reliance")
"Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man; and, therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not." - Francis Bacon (from his Essays: "Of Studies")
"What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence." - Samuel Johnson (often quoted about his essays in The Rambler)
"The point of the essay is to change things." - Edward Tufte
"An essay is a complicated working-out of one's own contradictions and complicities." - Amitava Kumar
"I wrote an essay about leaf blowers and the evil they do." - Julie Newmar
Etymology
The word "essay" has a really interesting history that goes back to the idea of trying something out or testing it.
It originates from the French word "essai," meaning "an attempt" or "a trial." This French word, in turn, can be traced back to the Latin word "exagium," meaning "a weighing" or "a testing." So, right from its very early roots, "essay" was about trying to figure something out, weighing ideas, or putting something to the test.
The first known use of "essay" as a word in English, in the sense of a written piece, was around the late 1500s. This is largely thanks to the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne. He called his writings "Essais" (the plural of "essai"), and he used that title specifically to highlight that his works were not grand, definitive statements, but rather "attempts" or "experiments" to put his thoughts on paper. He was trying to explore ideas and share his reflections, almost like an intellectual exploration.
So, in simple terms, the word "essay" originally meant "an attempt" or "a trial," and Montaigne adopted it to describe his writings as exploratory thoughts, which then influenced how we understand and use the word for a written composition today.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Essay
Essay a response: To attempt to formulate an answer or reply.
Essay an argument: To try to develop or present a line of reasoning.
Essay a new approach: To attempt a different method or strategy.
To put something in the essay: (Lesser-known, more archaic) To test something out.
A trial essay: An initial attempt at writing, often for practice or evaluation.
An essay in living: An attempt or endeavor to navigate life's challenges or experiences.
An essay in courage: A demonstration or attempt requiring bravery.
To make an essay at something: To make an attempt or effort towards a goal.
To give it a try/go: (Using a synonym, "try," for similar effect) To attempt.
To take a stab at it: (Idiom using "stab" as a synonym for attempt) To make an initial effort.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of essay from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
