A definition essay is a type of essays that provides a comprehensive explanation of a term. In the broad sense of the word, you need to write an essay to define one or another issue from your personal perspective. Yes, you can look the word up in a dictionary and provide its precise definition. Thus, while some specific terms may be defined easily as they have a single meaning, there are some abstract terms that require a wider description based on personal perception. Such essays help understand various aspects of a particular term and consider them within examples that are simple and actual. So an extended definition essay must introduce a person’s point of view on a chosen term followed by a detailed description of its use, structure, and function.
This article is aimed at helping you with writing a definition essay by giving you the list of terms needed to be defined in an essay and ways of how to do it effectively, and it will help you out. Follow it to succeed in essay writing!
Top 3 Terms to Define in an Essay
1. Home – Is It a Place Where You Live or Came from, or Is It Property You Have?
While going through happy and tough moments of life, a person decides on what situations he or she feels the most joyful in. Thus, in case of trouble, everyone tends to look for the support of a close person. In the meantime, some people may feel better being alone and not sharing their thoughts. In any of the cases, every person has an own way of overcoming negative moments by being with family, lonely, at work or distracting themselves in other ways. Thus, as soon as one finds a way to feel comfortable and hopeful for a better outcome despite all the problems, the person finds a home.
Home, initially, is defined as a dwelling of a person. Such the description includes not only the actual building, but also its people or one’s family, both interior and exterior, the atmosphere, and the feelings that arise when thinking about home. However, every individual, at some point in life, comes to realize that there is much more behind the term than simply a place to live or the memories created there. In fact, it is rather a house that implies such things. Thus, it is important not to confuse the two terms, as a home has a much deeper meaning than a house.
In particular, if a house is an actual possession, one’s home is something to own when possessing nothing, that is, being materially poor. From a different perspective, a house is a building for living while a home may be both materialistic and abstract and may mean:
- A place;
- An environment;
- A season or time of the day;
- People;
- A hobby;
- A state of mind.
In other words, being surrounded with pleasant people, doing favorite job, spending time in a comfortable place at the right time, taking care of somebody or being taken care of, eating a delicious meal – all of these things are home, as they provoke that warm feeling inside one’s heart, or else, a sense of belonging. Hence, a home is intangible.
Interestingly, as a house is a physical object, there cannot be enough space for an endless number of people to fit in, no matter how big the house is. A home, by contrast, is always open to new experiences and memories that help complement the perfectly comforting state of both mind and soul. As time passes, a person tends to change, and it involves the change of his or her priorities, interests, and habits. For example, in adulthood, it is more likely for one to consider a house with the family to be home, while those who are younger may have a great variety of things that comfort them.
While the majority of people have a house since being born, few of them manage to acquire a home throughout life, with only several succeeding in keeping it present in life. In some cases, however, an individual may not manage to realize the presence of a home in his or her life, but one will never doubt when admitting to owning a home in the case of having found one.
2. Love – Is It a Romantic Feeling or Pleasure to Do Something?
Love is one of the great mysteries that is difficult to define, difficult to measure, and difficult to understand. Most people think so. But, sooner or later, each person has a strong feeling of affection for someone – a parent, a close friend or girl/boyfriend. It is a feeling about which writers create love stories and poems, great singers sing, and great philosophers ponder. However, there are other meanings of love besides being a romantic feeling of liking someone. It can be a strong feeling of pleasure and enjoyment that something gives you when you do, see or touch it.
Basically, love is a pleasant emotion most people experience – be it in a family, circles of friends, love affairs or hobbies. There is no wrong definition as love is defined for each and every person differently. Even the ways of its demonstration vary – while someone says about love on a non-stop basis and goes off the head, others enjoy doing something very much as it brings a lot of pleasure. Look how many people around devoted to a deal of a lifetime – artists, musicians, businesspeople, etc. What category of people do you belong to? No matter what you love most, your folks, friends or hobbies, there are things that show your love. They are sacrifice and concern. Look at a businessman who sacrifices time and get concerned about business affairs every single day. It means that these people love what they do. Otherwise, they will give up thinking, “Why should I do it?”
It isn’t worth to ignore the meaning of love as a romantic feeling between two people that can also make them blind or do some unthinkable things. Sometimes, the behavior of loving couples may impress – just take the love story of Edward VIII who abdicated the throne because of his desire to marry a two-time divorced American woman, Wallis Simpson. No sooner had Joséphine asked to present something cute and simple, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Sicily. It’s time to find out what love is for you.
3. Holiday – Is It a Fixed Day by Law or Time to Enjoy?
New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Valentine’s Day… All these days are supposed to bring pleasant emotions as they all are aimed at fun and enjoyment. Moreover, some holidays mean days off – days fixed by law on which people do not have to go to work or school. However, most employers still pay extra money to employees working on the day. What is a day for you when you are free formally? Or can you organize the holiday at any time when you need a rest from work or school?
For some people, holidays are the most awaited days of the year. For example, students wait for summer to relax, pursue their hobbies and go on holiday trips. Adults yearn for holidays to take a break from their monotonous routine. At the same time, there is a necessity for them to make numerous plans for holidays – where and when to go, how much to spend, etc. It may cause some stress and the unwillingness to plan anything for holidays. As a result, people prefer to stay at home lazing on a sofa and eating pizza.
A working week consisting of 5 days allows having additional days to spend the time of rest together with family members, friends, or spend it on own. Usually, there is no rule for going to bed in the evening and getting up in the morning. Moreover, students don’t have to go to school. What luck for them! But they need to complete homework – essays, reports, speeches, etc. So any holiday is a day that requires proper planning and effective time management skills.
Most people believe that a holiday is not a time to forget about the studies or work, especially when you leave your work or study during long vacations. You will surely find it challenging to return to school or work. There are 5 resources to make the transition from break to work smoother for teachers, students, and everyone else. Just squeeze in an hour or two each day for completing some tasks – to read a book or write an essay. And certainly, don’t forget about your interests and hobbies – dancing, blogging, swimming, yoga, painting, or music. It’s up to you what a holiday is for you, and don’t hesitate to write a good definition essay about it.
To simply write a definition essay is complicated because every person has a different perception. The only way to capture the meaning of an issue is to experience it, dig deeper into an issue or find someone who could help with it. Get involved in anything of your choice – a friend, a relative or an academic writer who will format your definition essay properly in addition to high-quality essay writing.