Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Old French
Origin: essai, from Late Latin exagium 'act of weighing'

essay

1 noun
     
Related topics: Literature, Education
es‧say1 S2 [countable]
1SE 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
2AL 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
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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