I. es ‧ say 1 S3 /ˈeseɪ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: essai , from Late Latin exagium 'act of weighing' ]
1 . a short piece of writing about a particular subject by a student as part of a course of study
essay on/about
an essay on Bernard Shaw
2 . a short piece of writing giving someone’s ideas about politics, society etc
essay on
Rousseau’s ‘Essay on the Origin of Languages’
3 . formal an attempt to do something
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ verbs
▪ write/do an essay
I’ve got a 3,000 word essay to write before Friday.
▪ give in/hand in an essay
Half the class failed to hand in their essay on time.
▪ mark an essay British English , grade an essay AmE:
I went home knowing that I still had a pile of essays to mark.
▪ read an essay
Did you read her essay on ‘The Waste Land’?
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + essay
▪ an English/history/politics etc essay
He got a good grade for his English essay.
▪ a critical essay (=one that judges how good a book, writer etc is)
The anthology contains critical essays by Kael, Graham Greene and others.
▪ an academic essay
Mature students often need practice writing academic essays.
▪ a literary essay
In a literary essay, you should explore the meaning and construction of the text.
■ essay + NOUN
▪ an essay question
We practised essay questions from previous exam papers.
▪ an essay title
You will find a list of essay titles on the notice board.
▪ an essay topic
Students will be given six essay topics, from which they must choose two.
■ phrases
▪ a collection of essays
She published a collection of essays on philosophy.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ essay a piece of writing written by a student as part of a course of study:
We had to write an essay about the environment.
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Have you handed in your essay yet?
▪ paper an essay written by a someone who has studied a subject as part of their research. Paper is also used about an essay that you have to write for a class at school, especially in American English:
The professor has published over forty scientific papers on diseases of tropical crops
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At the beginning of the school year we had to write a paper about our interests.
▪ dissertation a long essay written as part of a university degree:
In the third year of their course, students have to write a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic that has been approved by their tutor.
▪ thesis a very long essay that is part of an advanced university degree such as a master’s degree or a doctorate:
He wrote his doctoral thesis on the literature of the English romantic movement.
II. es ‧ say 2 /eˈseɪ/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
formal to attempt to do something