etymology word essay

1590s, "trial, attempt, endeavor," also "short, discursive literary composition" (first attested in writings of Francis Bacon, probably in imitation of Montaigne), from French essai "trial, attempt, essay" (in Old French from 12c.), from Late Latin exagium "a weighing, a weight," from Latin exigere "drive out; require, exact; examine, try, test," from ex "out" (see ex- ) + agere "to set in motion, drive" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move") apparently meaning here "to weigh." The suggestion is of unpolished writing. Compare assay , also examine .

"to put to proof, test the mettle of," late 15c., from French essaier , from essai "trial, attempt" (see essay (n.)). This sense has mostly gone with the divergent spelling assay . Meaning "to attempt" is from 1640s. Related: Essayed ; essaying .

Entries linking to essay

c. 1300, "to try, endeavor, strive; test the quality of," from Anglo-French assaier , from assai (n.), from Old French assai , variant of essai "trial" (see essay (n.)). Related: Assayed ; assaying .

c. 1300, "put (someone) to question in regard to knowledge, competence, or skill, inquire into qualifications or capabilities;" mid-14c., "inspect or survey (something) carefully, scrutinize, view or observe in all aspects with the purpose of forming a correct opinion or judgment," from Old French examiner "interrogate, question, torture," from Latin examinare "to test or try; consider, ponder," literally "to weigh," from examen "a means of weighing or testing," probably ultimately from exigere "demand, require, enforce," literally "to drive or force out," also "to finish, measure," from ex "out" (see ex- ) + agere "to set in motion, drive, drive forward; to do, perform" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move"). Legal sense of "question or hear (a witness in court)" is from early 15c. Related: Examined ; examining .

• See all related words ( 6 ) >

Trends of essay

More to explore, share essay.

updated on December 09, 2020

Trending words

• 2 . defenestration
• 3 . lukewarm
• 5 . shampoo
• 10 . holiday

Dictionary entries near essay

essentialism

• English (English)
• 简体中文 (Chinese)
• Deutsch (German)
• Español (Spanish)
• Français (French)
• Italiano (Italian)
• 日本語 (Japanese)
• 한국어 (Korean)
• Português (Portuguese)
• 繁體中文 (Chinese)

• Create account
• Contributions
• 閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gú
• Bahasa Melayu
• Simple English

Etymology 1

Since late 16th century, borrowed from Middle French essay , essai ( “ essay ” ) , meaning coined by Montaigne in the same time, from the same words in earlier meanings 'experiment; assay; attempt', from Old French essay , essai , assay , assai , from Latin exagium ( “ weight; weighing, testing on the balance ” ) , from exigere + -ium .

Pronunciation

• ( Received Pronunciation , General American ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈɛs.eɪ/ (1), IPA ( key ) : /ɛˈseɪ/ (2-4)
• Rhymes: -ɛseɪ
• Homophone : ese

essay ( plural essays )

• 2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist ‎ [1] , volume 101 , number 1, archived from the original on 9 February 2017 , page 64 : 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.”
• ( obsolete ) A test , experiment ; an assay .
• 1861 , E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley , page 16 : 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.
• 1988 , James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom , Oxford, published 2003 , page 455 : This was Lee's first essay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark.
• ( philately , finance ) A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote .

Derived terms

• argumentative essay
• automated essay scoring
• counteressay
• eight-legged essay
• essay question
• in this essay I will
• photo-essay
• photo essay
• video essay

Related terms

Translations, etymology 2.

From Middle French essayer , essaier , from Old French essaiier , essayer , essaier , assaiier , assayer , assaier , from essay , essai , assay , assai ( “ attempt; assay; experiment ” ) as above.

• ( UK , US ) IPA ( key ) : /ɛˈseɪ/

essay ( third-person singular simple present essays , present participle essaying , simple past and past participle essayed )

• 1900 , Charles W. Chesnutt , chapter II, in The House Behind the Cedars : He retraced his steps to the front gate, which he essayed to open.
• 1950 April, R. A. H. Weight, “They Passed by My Window”, in Railway Magazine , page 260 : 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.
• 2023 October 12, HarryBlank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation ‎ [2] , archived from the original on 22 May 2024 : There was the counter, there was the bulletin board, above her the dull sound of music being played over headphones. Something jaunty. She liked the beat. Then the sound of a chair being pushed back, and someone humming as they walked away from her, and she darted up to plunge the bayonet into their kidneys from behind. A followup stroke through the back of the neck, and the second soldier was down. She didn't even stop to see if it was a man or a woman, young or old. There were further hurdles to essay before she reached her destination.
• ( intransitive ) To move forth, as into battle.
• Sayes , Seays , Sesay , eyass

Borrowed from English essay ( “ essay ” ) , from Middle French essai ( “ essay; attempt, assay ” ) , from Old French essai , from Latin exagium (whence the neuter gender).

• IPA ( key ) : /ɛˈseː/ , /ˈɛ.seː/
• Hyphenation: es‧say
• Rhymes: -eː

essay   n ( plural essays , diminutive essaytje   n )

• essay Synonyms: opstel , paper

Descendants

Norwegian bokmål.

Borrowed from English essay , from Middle French essai .

essay   n ( definite singular essayet , indefinite plural essay or essayer , definite plural essaya or essayene )

• an essay , a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular subject
• essaysamling
• “essay” in The Bokmål Dictionary .

Norwegian Nynorsk

essay   n ( definite singular essayet , indefinite plural essay , definite plural essaya )

• “essay” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .

• English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
• English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eǵ-
• English terms borrowed from Middle French
• English terms derived from Middle French
• English terms derived from Old French
• English terms derived from Latin
• English 2-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English terms with audio pronunciation
• Rhymes:English/ɛseɪ
• Rhymes:English/ɛseɪ/2 syllables
• English terms with homophones
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English terms with quotations
• English terms with obsolete senses
• English terms with rare senses
• en:Philately
• English verbs
• English dated terms
• English transitive verbs
• English intransitive verbs
• English heteronyms
• en:Literature
• Dutch terms borrowed from English
• Dutch terms derived from English
• Dutch terms derived from Middle French
• Dutch terms derived from Old French
• Dutch terms derived from Latin
• Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
• Rhymes:Dutch/eː
• Dutch lemmas
• Dutch nouns
• Dutch nouns with plural in -s
• Dutch neuter nouns
• Norwegian Bokmål terms borrowed from English
• Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from English
• Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Middle French
• Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
• Norwegian Bokmål nouns
• Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
• Norwegian Nynorsk terms borrowed from English
• Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from English
• Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Middle French
• Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
• Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
• Norwegian Nynorsk neuter nouns
• Pages with entries
• Pages with 4 entries
• Quotation templates to be cleaned
• Entries with translation boxes
• Terms with Albanian translations
• Terms with Arabic translations
• Terms with Armenian translations
• Terms with Assamese translations
• Terms with Azerbaijani translations
• Terms with Bashkir translations
• Terms with Belarusian translations
• Terms with Bengali translations
• Terms with Bulgarian translations
• Terms with Burmese translations
• Terms with Catalan translations
• Cantonese terms with redundant transliterations
• Terms with Cantonese translations
• Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations
• Terms with Mandarin translations
• Terms with Czech translations
• Terms with Danish translations
• Terms with Dutch translations
• Terms with Esperanto translations
• Terms with Estonian translations
• Terms with Finnish translations
• Terms with French translations
• Terms with Galician translations
• Terms with Georgian translations
• Terms with German translations
• Terms with Greek translations
• Terms with Ancient Greek translations
• Terms with Hebrew translations
• Terms with Hindi translations
• Terms with Hungarian translations
• Terms with Icelandic translations
• Terms with Ido translations
• Terms with Indonesian translations
• Terms with Irish translations
• Terms with Italian translations
• Terms with Japanese translations
• Terms with Kazakh translations
• Terms with Khmer translations
• Terms with Korean translations
• Terms with Kyrgyz translations
• Terms with Latin translations
• Terms with Latvian translations
• Terms with Lithuanian translations
• Terms with Macedonian translations
• Terms with Malagasy translations
• Terms with Malay translations
• Terms with Malayalam translations
• Terms with Maori translations
• Terms with Marathi translations
• Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations
• Terms with Pashto translations
• Terms with Persian translations
• Terms with Polish translations
• Terms with Portuguese translations
• Terms with Romanian translations
• Terms with Russian translations
• Russian terms with non-redundant manual transliterations
• Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations
• Terms with Slovak translations
• Terms with Slovene translations
• Terms with Spanish translations
• Terms with Swahili translations
• Terms with Swedish translations
• Terms with Tagalog translations
• Terms with Tajik translations
• Terms with Tatar translations
• Terms with Telugu translations
• Terms with Thai translations
• Terms with Turkish translations
• Terms with Ukrainian translations
• Urdu terms with non-redundant manual transliterations
• Terms with Urdu translations
• Urdu terms with redundant transliterations
• Terms with Uyghur translations
• Terms with Uzbek translations
• Terms with Vietnamese translations
• Terms with Welsh translations
• Terms with Yiddish translations
• Terms with Yoruba translations

Words and phrases

Personal account.

• Access or purchase personal subscriptions
• Get our newsletter
• Save searches
• Set display preferences

Institutional access

Sign in with library card

Sign in with username / password

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic

• Hide all quotations

What does the noun essay mean?

There are 12 meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun essay , nine of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

essay has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the noun essay ?

How is the noun essay pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun essay come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun essay is in the late 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for essay is from 1597, in the writing of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor, politician, and philosopher.

essay is a borrowing from French .

Etymons: French essai .

Nearby entries

• esrache, v. 1477
• esraj, n. 1921–
• ESRO, n. 1961–
• ess, n. 1540–
• -ess, suffix¹
• -ess, suffix²
• essamplerie, n. 1393
• essart, n. 1656–
• essart, v. 1675–
• essarting, n. a1821–
• essay, n. 1597–
• essay, v. 1483–
• essayal, n. 1837–
• essayer, n. 1611–
• essayette, n. 1877–
• essayfy, v. 1815–
• essay-hatch, n. 1721–
• essayical, adj. 1860–
• essaying, n. 1861–
• essaying, adj. 1641–
• essayish, adj. 1863–

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for essay, n..

essay, n. was first published in 1891; not yet revised.

essay, n. was last modified in December 2024.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into essay, n. in December 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1891)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View essay, n. in OED Second Edition

Please submit your feedback for essay, n.

Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your feedback. OUP will not use this email address for any other purpose.

Citation details

Factsheet for essay, n., browse entry.

Definition: Essay

• 1 Etymology 1
• 2.1 Derived terms
• 2.2 Related terms
• 3 Etymology 2

Etymology 1

Since late sixteenth century, borrowed from Middle French essay , essai (essay), meaning coined by Montaigne in the same time, from the same words in earlier meanings "experiment, assay, attempt," from Old French essay , essai , assay , assai , from Latin exagium (weight, weighing, testing on the balance), from exigere + -ium .

essay (plural essays )

• (authorship) A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject.
• (philately, finance) A proposed design for a postage stamp or a banknote.

Derived terms

• essay question
• photo essay

Related terms

Etymology 2.

From Middle French essayer , essaier , from Old French essaiier , essayer , essaier , assaiier , assayer , assaier , from essay , essai , assay , assai (attempt, assay, experiment) as above.

essay (third-person singular simple present essays , present participle essaying , simple past and past participle essayed )

• (intransitive) To move forth, as into battle.

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors copied and adjusted this Wiktionary entry in accordance with NWE standards . This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit for this article is due to both New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions at Wiktionary is accessible to researchers here:

• essay   history

essay etymology

Etymology and Meaning of "Essay"

The word "essay" originates from the Old French term "essai," which means "an attempt" or "a trial." It entered the English language in the late 14th century and initially referred to a written piece that attempted to address a complex or challenging topic. Over time, the meaning of "essay" has evolved, but it retains its fundamental connection to the idea of an attempt or exploration.

An essay, in its modern literary sense, is a written composition that presents the author's perspective on a particular subject or topic. It typically explores the issue in depth, often with an analytical or argumentative approach. Essays can vary significantly in length and complexity, ranging from short, informal pieces to extended, scholarly works.

Origin of "Essay"

The concept of the essay can be traced back to ancient times. Plato and Aristotle both used the term to describe a literary form that examined philosophical or rhetorical subjects. However, the modern essay as we know it developed during the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods in Europe.

Michel de Montaigne, a French philosopher, is widely credited as the father of the modern essay. His "Essais" (1580-1595) were a series of personal and philosophical reflections that broke with the conventions of formal academic writing. They explored a wide range of topics, including death, friendship, education, and virtue.

Montaigne's essays inspired a new wave of literary experimentation and led to the development of the essay as a distinct genre. In the 18th century, English writers such as Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Samuel Johnson popularized the essay form through their contributions to periodicals like The Spectator and The Rambler.

The word "essay" has a rich etymology and meaning that reflects its evolution as a literary form. Originating from the idea of an attempt or trial, the essay has become a versatile medium for exploring complex ideas, presenting arguments, and sharing personal perspectives. Through the works of writers such as Montaigne and Johnson, the essay has established itself as a fundamental part of English and world literature.

essay relate terms

Etymology The word assay is derived from the Middle French word assaier meaning to

Etymology and Meaning of Essay The word essay originates from the Old French term es

Etymology Etymology is the study of the origin and development of words It involves trac

Etymology From Middle English seken sekyn from Old English sēčan sēcian from Pro

Etymology Attempt comes from the Middle English word attempten which is derived from

Etymology The word selfevident is derived from the following roots self meaning

Etymology The word theme derives from the Greek word thema θέμα which means s

Etymology The word pamphlet comes from the Latin word pamphilus which was the name o

Etymology From Middle English fighten fighte from Old English feohtan to fight f

Etymology Late Middle English from Old French aventure from Latin adventūra literal

Etymology The word paper originates from the Coptic word papyrus which refers to a w

• manipulation
• roller coaster

Essay etymology

English word essay comes from Latin ago, Latin de, and later Old French essai (Trial (task of considerable difficulty).)

Etymology of essay

Detailed word origin of essay, words with the same origin as essay, descendants of ago, descendants of de.

English Essay: Origin, Development and Growth

Contact form.

New Product! Create Academic and Professional Success with “Academic Vocabulary”!

A Brief History of the Essay: The Essay Defined

What is an essay? If you cannot answer that question concretely and competently, you are lost when it comes to fully grasping writing and literature. Understanding essays and essay writing is critical for students, teachers, writers, and readers of all ages.

I have a different post that outlines what an essay is for teachers to use with students in this modern era. However, if teachers don’t understand the following definitional background information on the essay’s origin, they will only teach part of the truth.

This section comes from an early 20th-century introduction to a book on essays and essay writing. It provides an excellent historical perspective for understanding and defining the essay. Sometimes, someone else has said it perfectly already, and Tanner did just that.

Please note that I have strategically extracted the following text and moderately adapted it for modern audiences. As you will see, Tanner included definitions from Benson (1910), Smith (1863), and others in his introduction.

Please enjoy and absorb the many insights from the following!

The Introduction from Essays and Essay Writing: Based on Atlantic Monthly Models (1917) by William M. Tanner – Selected Text and Moderately Adapted

The first essayists: montaigne (1533-1592) and bacon (1561-1626): the beginning of the battle between the informal essay and formal essay.

From the time of Montaigne and Bacon to the present, the essay has developed along two lines: the formal essay (Bacon) and the informal or familiar essay (Montaigne).

Although no exact definition of the essay can be given, it may be helpful to consider a few of the recognized meanings and some of the definitions that have been proposed.

Definition: Year 1580: Since 1580, when Michel de Montaigne first called his short, informal prose compositions Essais, the word essay has come to include an ever-increasing variety of literary forms. Montaigne, the inventor of the term and the genre, used the word to indicate a trial, attempt, or endeavor. Montaigne felt tentativeness, incompleteness, and lack of elaboration and literary finish to be characteristic of this new literary genre.

Definition: Year 1755: In Doctor Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), Johnson retained this idea of incompleteness in his dictionary definition: “A loose sally of the mind; an irregular, undigested piece; not a regular and orderly performance.”

Definition: Year 1910: According to the New English Dictionary (1910), an essay is a composition of moderate length on any particular subject or branch of a subject; a composition more or less elaborate in style, though limited in range.

Definition: Year 1910: Mr. Edmund Gosse, in his article on the essay in the Encyclopedia Britannica (1910), proposed the following: “As a form of literature, the essay is a composition of moderate length, usually in prose, which deals in an easy, cursory way with the external conditions of a subject, and, in strictness, with that subject only as it affects the writer.” In this definition, naturalness, ease in style, and the author’s personality are additional characteristics of the essay. Since the essayist deals with her subject primarily as it affects her, she allows the reader to look at the subject through her temperament and personality. Throughout the entire history of the essay, personality has been a most important characteristic.

Developmental History of the Essay

Here is a quick look at the essay through the centuries:

• 17th Century: The seventeenth-century essay was personal, moral, and reflective.

• 18th Century: That of the eighteenth was social, didactic, and critical.

• 19th Century: The nineteenth-century essay included both the other types, which were greatly expanded and highly perfected by this period’s essayists.

The Familiar Essay

The Thesis Statement: In almost every familiar essay, no matter how short or informally written, there is stated at the beginning or early in the essay some general thesis or central idea that the author uses as the text of her comments. This central idea is the most effective means of giving the essay unity. After setting forth her thesis, which often consists of an abstract statement, the writer usually develops this central idea by introducing concrete details and appropriate references. Her personal experiences, observations, and well-chosen historical and literary allusions provide her with the necessary illustrative material.

For the reader’s convenience, an attempt has been made in the present volume to classify the essays selected into five rather general types. This classification has been made primarily based on the subject matter and the mood of the essayist.

• Essays of Type 1: Personal Experiences, Confessions, and Self-Analyses. • Essays of Type 2: Reflections and Comments on Life, Human Nature, Customs, and Experience. • Essays of Type 3: Observations and Discoveries in the Familiar and Commonplace. • Essays of Type 4: Nature Essays. • Essays of Type 5: General Observations, Comments, and Opinions of the Author.

A Few More Insights on the Essay

Here are three more passages from Tanner’s introduction. Yes, two are from different authors.

Introduction: Essay and Essay Writing (1917) by William M. Tanner

The familiar essay is a composite fabric woven upon a framework called the theme or unifying idea. The pattern is of the essayist’s own devising. The texture and quality of the resulting fabric depend upon the writer’s personality, attitude toward her subject, and skill in weaving—that is, the writer’s style of expression. The familiar essay and the lyric in poetry are essentially literary organs of personality. In discussing the nature and character of these two forms of literature, it is nearly impossible to consider the subject, the author, and the style separately. The familiar essay is best defined by pointing out the interrelation of these three elements.

On Essays at Large (1910) by Arthur C. Benson

The true essay is a tentative and personal treatment of a subject; it is a kind of improvisation on a delicate theme; a type of soliloquy. The theme itself matters little—the art of it lies in the treatment. And the important thing is that the essay should possess what may be called atmosphere and personality. The mark of the true essay is that the reader’s thinking is all done for him. A thought is expanded in a dozen ways until the most nebulous mind recognizes it. The path winds and suggests itself, like a little leafy lane among fields, with the hamlet chimneys and the spire, which are its leisurely goal.

On the Writing of Essays (1863) by Alexander Smith

As a literary form, the essay resembles the lyric, as it is molded by some central mood—whimsical, serious, or satirical. From the first sentence to the last, the essay grows around this mood as a cocoon grows around a silkworm. Essay writers are libertines and a law unto themselves. A quick ear and eye, an ability to identify the infinite suggestiveness of common things, and a brooding, meditative spirit are all that the essayist requires to start. The essayist is a kind of poet in prose, and if questioned harshly as to her uses, she might be unable to render a better apology for her existence than a flower might. The essayist plays with her subject, now whimsical, now grave, now in a melancholy mood. She lies upon the idle grassy bank letting the world flow past her, and from this thing and the other, she extracts her delight and her moralities.

The essay writer’s main gift is an eye to discover the suggestiveness of common things; to find a sermon in the most unpromising texts. Her discourses are not beholden to their titles. Let her take up the most trivial subject, and it will lead her away to the great questions over which the serious imagination loves to brood—fortune, change, life, death. The world is to the meditative writer what the mulberry plant is to the silkworm. The essay writer has no lack of subject matter. She has the day that is passing overhead. If unsatisfied with that, she has the world’s six thousand years of history to feed upon.

The fastest, most effective way to teach clear, organized paragraph and multi-paragraph writing… Guaranteed!

Create academic or professional success today by improving your critical thinking, logical arguments, and effective communication.