treatise

An Opinionated proposal written to sway the thinking of a greater establishment. Generally longer then your typical “Letter to the Editor,” or essay and are usually constructed carefully for the systematic attack on an issue. Many treatises begin with the chief arguments of the issues' detractors and continue on the discredit these arguments one by one.

Many great treatises have been written by people such as Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (on mining), Galileo (on the nature of the universe), Turing (on encryption), and Voltaire (on toleration).

Trea"tise (?), n. [OE. tretis, OF. treitis, traitis, well made. See Treat.]

1.

A written composition on a particular subject, in which its principles are discussed or explained; a tract.

Chaucer.

He published a treatise in which he maintained that a marriage between a member of the Church of England and a dissenter was a nullity. Macaulay.

⇒ A treatise implies more form and method than an essay, but may fall short of the fullness and completeness of a systematic exposition.

2.

Story; discourse.

Shak.

© Webster 1913.