essay

The word “essay” means a short piece of writing that explores or argues a particular topic. In plain terms, a written piece that examines a topic, or, less commonly, an attempt at something.

“Essay” is pronounced EHS-ay (/ˈɛs.eɪ/ in IPA).

Here is “essay” used in a sentence: “Her essay on climate policy won first prize in the competition.”

Depending on how it is used, “essay” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “essay” dates back to around 1500 and comes from French. From French essai, "an attempt" or "a trial" — the writer Montaigne coined the modern literary sense in the late 1500s when he called his own writings "essais," meaning tries or attempts at exploring an idea.

“Essay” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

“Essay” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a short piece of writing that explores or argues a particular topic.

An essay is a short piece of writing that explores or argues a topic, often reflecting the writer's personal viewpoint, while an article is typically more factual and reports information, as in a newspaper or magazine. Essays are common in academic and literary settings, whereas articles belong to journalism.

Essay and assay are easily confused: an essay is a piece of writing, while an assay is a test or analysis, especially of a metal or chemical. As a verb, "essay" means to attempt something, which is close to the older sense of "assay."

Common types of essay include narrative, descriptive, expository, argumentative, and persuasive essays. Each explores or argues a topic in a different way, from telling a story to making a reasoned case.