essay English · revision 6516

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1597|origins=la ago}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɛs.eɪ/, /ɛˈseɪ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|essai|t=trial, attempt]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-lat|exagium|t=a weighing, a weight]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|exigo|alt=exigere|t=to drive out; to examine, weigh]], from [[m|la|ex-]] and [[m|la|ago|alt=agere|t=to drive]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[assay]], and the verb is an alteration of assay after French essayer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A short literary composition: 1597, as the title of Francis Bacon's ''Essays'', apparently taken from Montaigne's ''Essais'' (1580);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) a trial or attempt, the 1590s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Trench notes that calling a treatise an essay was once a mark of modesty, an essay being a trial or first attempt rather than a finished work.^(Trench 1859) Word Origins says the writing sense first meant a first draft.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, to test, is from the late 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) a sense now mostly kept by the spelling [[assay]], and to attempt from the 1640s.^(Etymonline) A test of metals (1668) and a taste of food given to a great person (1598) are obsolete senses.^(OED 1989) In philately, an essay is a proposed design for a stamp.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 15th century – the verb, to test.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1597 – Bacon's Essays.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1598 – an attempt.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1640s – the verb, to attempt.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short piece of writing on a particular subject.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(formal)'' An attempt or effort.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(formal)'' To attempt or try.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[essayer]]

+ * [[photo-essay]]

+ * [[unessayed]]

+ * [[essay question]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[assay]]

+ * [[essayist]]

+ * [[essayistic]]

+ * [[exact]]

+ * [[examine]]

+ * [[agent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The noun is usually stressed on the first syllable, while the verb and the sense ''attempt'' may be stressed on the second.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}