{
    "term": "essay",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "a2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a short piece of writing by a student as part of a course of study",
            "sensetop": "essay on somethingessay about somebody/somethingin an essay",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I have to **write an essay** this weekend."
                },
                {
                    "text": "an essay on the causes of the First World War",
                    "contextForm": "essay on something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Have you done your essay about Napoleon yet?",
                    "contextForm": "essay about somebody/something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He made some very good points in his essay.",
                    "contextForm": "in an essay"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Essays handed in late will not be accepted."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Have you done your essay yet?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He concludes the essay by calling for a corrective."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I finished my essay about 10 o'clock last night!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Lunch was the only time she could finish her essay assignment."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We have to write an essay on the environment."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You have to answer 3 out of 8 essay questions in the exam."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the teenage winner of an essay contest"
                },
                {
                    "text": "We have to write an essay on the causes of the First World War."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Education"],
            "collocations": {
                "… of essays": ["anthology", "collection", "selection"],
                "verb + essay": ["do", "write", "finish"],
                "essay + verb": [
                    "be entitled something",
                    "be titled something",
                    "address something"
                ],
                "essay + noun": ["question", "title", "topic"],
                "preposition": ["in an/​the essay", "essay about", "essay on"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a short piece of writing on a particular subject, written in order to be published",
            "sensetop": "essay (by somebody)essay on somebody/somethingessay about somebody/somethingin an essay",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a collection of essays by prominent African American writers",
                    "contextForm": "essay (by somebody)"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The book contains a number of interesting essays on women in society.",
                    "contextForm": "essay on somebody/something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Pierce contributes a long essay about John F. Kennedy.",
                    "contextForm": "essay about somebody/something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I discuss this in a forthcoming essay.",
                    "contextForm": "in an essay"
                },
                {
                    "text": "A version of this essay was presented at the Astronomical Society."
                },
                {
                    "text": "In 2001 she published a collection of essays."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The essays explore Einstein's personal development."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the fifteen essays collected in this volume"
                },
                {
                    "text": "‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’ by Thomas Malthus"
                },
                {
                    "text": "an essay entitled ‘Memory’"
                },
                {
                    "text": "This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the subject."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "… of essays": ["anthology", "collection", "selection"],
                "verb + essay": ["do", "write", "finish"],
                "essay + verb": [
                    "be entitled something",
                    "be titled something",
                    "address something"
                ],
                "essay + noun": ["question", "title", "topic"],
                "preposition": ["in an/​the essay", "essay about", "essay on"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "an attempt to do something",
            "sensetop": "essay (in something)",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "His first essay in politics was a complete disaster."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈeseɪ/",
                "audio": "es/essay/essay__gb_3.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈeseɪ/",
                "audio": "es/essay/essay__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late 15th cent. (as a verb in the sense ‘test the quality of’): alteration of assay, by association with Old French essayer, based on late Latin exagium ‘weighing’, from the base of exigere ‘ascertain, weigh’; the noun (late 16th cent.) is from Old French essai ‘trial’."
}