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Essay vs Project - What's the difference?

essay | project |

In obsolete terms the difference between essay and project

is that essay is a test, experiment; an assay while project is the place from which a thing projects.

In intransitive terms the difference between essay and project

is that essay is to move forth, as into battle while project is to extend beyond a surface.

As nouns the difference between essay and project

is that essay is a written composition of moderate length exploring a particular issue or subject while project is a planned endeavor, usually with a specific goal and accomplished in several steps or stages.

As verbs the difference between essay and project

is that essay is to try while project is to extend beyond a surface.

essay

English

(wikipedia essay)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A written composition of moderate length exploring a particular issue or subject.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-01
  • , author=Katie L. Burke , title=Ecological Dependency , volume=101, issue=1, page=64 , magazine= citation , passage=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.
  • An attempt.
  • * 1988 , James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom , Oxford 2003, p. 455:
  • This was Lee's first essay in the kind of offensive-defensive strategy that was to become his hallmark.

    Derived terms

    * photo essay

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (dated) To try.
  • * 1900 , , The House Behind the Cedars , Chapter II,
  • He retraced his steps to the front gate, which he essayed to open.
  • To move forth, as into battle.
  • Anagrams

    *

    project

    English

    Etymology 1

    Noun from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A planned endeavor, usually with a specific goal and accomplished in several steps or stages.
  • * (and other bibliographic details) (Rogers)
  • projects of happiness devised by human reason
  • * (and other bibliographic details) (Prescott)
  • He entered into the project with his customary ardour.
  • (dated) An idle scheme; an impracticable design.
  • a man given to projects
  • (obsolete) A projectile.
  • (obsolete) A projection.
  • (obsolete) The place from which a thing projects.
  • (Holland)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To extend beyond a surface.
  • To cast (an image or shadow) upon a surface; to throw or cast forward; to shoot forth.
  • * Spenser
  • Before his feet herself she did project .
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Behold! th' ascending villas on my side / Project long shadows o'er the crystal tide.
  • To extend (a protrusion or appendage) outward.
  • To make plans for; to forecast.
  • The CEO is projecting the completion of the acquisition by April 2007.
  • * Milton
  • projecting peace and war
  • (reflexive) To present (oneself), to convey a certain impression, usually in a good way.
  • * 1946 , Dr. Ralph S. Banay, The Milwaukeee Journal, Is Modern Woman a Failure :
  • It is difficult to gauge the exact point at which women stop trying to fool men and really begin to deceive themselves, but an objective analyst cannot escape the conclusion (1) that partly from a natural device inherent in the species, women deliberately project upon actual or potential suitors an impression of themselves that is not an accurate picture of their total nature, and (2) that few women ever are privileged to see themselves as they really are.
  • (transitive, psychology, psychoanalysis) To assume wrongly qualities or mindsets in others based on one's own personality.
  • (cartography) To change the projection (or coordinate system) of spatial data with another projection.
  • Synonyms
    * (extend beyond a surface) jut, jut out, protrude, stick out * cast, throw * (extend outward) extend, jut, jut out * forecast, foresee, foretell,

    References

    *

    Etymology 2

    Shortening of (housing project)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (usually, plural, US) An urban low-income housing building.
  • English heteronyms ----