Library / English Dictionary

ESSAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A tentative attempt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("essay" is a kind of...):

attempt; effort; endeavor; endeavour; try (earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something)

Derivation:

essay (make an effort or attempt)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An analytic or interpretive literary composition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("essay" is a kind of...):

piece of writing; writing; written material (the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "essay"):

composition; paper; report; theme (an essay (especially one written as an assignment))

disquisition (an elaborate analytical or explanatory essay or discussion)

memoir (an essay on a scientific or scholarly topic)

thanatopsis (an essay expressing a view on the subject of death)

Derivation:

essayist (a writer of literary works)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make an effort or attempt

Example:

She always seeks to do good in the world

Synonyms:

assay; attempt; essay; seek; try

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "essay" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "essay"):

pick up the gauntlet; take a dare (be dared to do something and attempt it)

fight; struggle (make a strenuous or labored effort)

give it a try; have a go (make an attempt at something)

grope (search blindly or uncertainly)

endeavor; endeavour; strive (attempt by employing effort)

give it a try; give it a whirl (try)

adventure; chance; gamble; hazard; risk; run a risk; take a chance; take chances (take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome)

lay on the line; put on the line; risk (expose to a chance of loss or damage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They essay to move

Derivation:

essay (a tentative attempt)

essayer (one who tries)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

Example:

Test this recipe

Synonyms:

essay; examine; prove; test; try; try out

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "essay" is one way to...):

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "essay"):

control; verify (check or regulate (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment or comparing with another standard)

float (circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with)

field-test (test something under the conditions under which it will actually be used)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Jo wrote no more sensational stories, deciding that the money did not pay for her share of the sensation, but going to the other extreme, as is the way with people of her stamp, she took a course of Mrs. Sherwood, Miss Edgeworth, and Hannah More, and then produced a tale which might have been more properly called an essay or a sermon, so intensely moral was it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Brissenden essayed a long and hearty laugh, but broke down in a fit of coughing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Miss Crawford made her first essay with great credit to herself, and no inconvenience to Fanny.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Coming aboard, as I passed through the cabin, I had noticed with greedy eyes a stout gentleman reading the Atlantic, which was open at my very essay.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Lip-lip essayed to back away, but White Fang struck him hard, shoulder to shoulder.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Show me how to work, or how to seek work: that is all I now ask; then let me go, if it be but to the meanest cottage; but till then, allow me to stay here: I dread another essay of the horrors of homeless destitution.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Martin was not used to sickness, and when Maria and her little girl left him, he essayed to get up and dress.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A red-faced man, slamming the cabin door behind him and stumping out on the deck, interrupted my reflections, though I made a mental note of the topic for use in a projected essay which I had thought of calling The Necessity for Freedom: A Plea for the Artist.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He essayed another circle.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

And on essays, long and short, he began to pay the travelling expenses from magazine to magazine.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)