Essay Meaning
/ˈɛs.eɪ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
nounA test, experiment; an assay.
Sentence Examples
What criterion did you use when you elected this essay as the winner?
You can finish your essay now.
I have to write an essay this weekend.
CEFR Practice Quiz
For homework, each student must write a five-paragraph ____ on climate change.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Students were asked to write an ____ about the impact of the industrial revolution.
Word Origin & History
Since late 16th century, borrowed from Middle French essay, essai (“essay”), meaning coined by Montaigne at the same time, from the same words with the earlier meanings 'experiment; assay; attempt', from Old French essay, essai, assay, assai, from Latin exagium (“weight; weighing, testing on the balance”), from exigere + -ium.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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.”"
— 2013 January 26, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2017, page 64:
"My first essay 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."
— 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 16:
"This was Lee's first essay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark."
— 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2003, page 455:
"He retraced his steps to the front gate, which he essayed to open."
— 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars:
"The train took the slow to branch spur at the north end at a not much slower speed, then essayed 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."
— 1950 April, R. A. H. Weight, “They Passed by My Window”, in Railway Magazine, page 260:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
For homework, each student must write a five-paragraph ____ on climate change.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Students were asked to write an ____ about the impact of the industrial revolution.