assay

[ verb a-sey; noun as-ey, a-sey ]

/ verb æˈseɪ; noun ˈæs eɪ, æˈseɪ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assay ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to examine or analyze: to assay a situation; to assay an event.

Metallurgy. to analyze (an ore, alloy, etc.) in order to determine the quantity of gold, silver, or other metal in it.

Pharmacology. to subject (a drug) to an analysis for the determination of its potency or composition.

to judge the quality of; assess; evaluate: to assay someone's efforts.

to try or test; put to trial: to assay one's strength; to assay one's debating abilities.

to attempt; try; essay: to assay a dance step.

verb (used without object)

to contain, as shown by analysis, a certain proportion of usually precious metal.

noun

Metallurgy. determination of the amount of metal, especially gold or silver, in an ore, alloy, etc.

a substance undergoing analysis or trial.

a detailed report of the findings in assaying a substance.

Archaic. examination; trial; attempt; essay.

Nearby words

assault course, assault jacket, assault rifle, assault weapon, assaultive, assay, assay cup, assay groove, assay office, assay ton, assaying

Origin of assay

1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French; variant of essay

Related formsas·say·a·ble, adjectiveas·say·er, nounun·as·sayed, adjectiveun·as·say·ing, adjective

Can be confusedassay essay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for assay

But the next afternoon, and perhaps the next, we would return to the same cruxes, and often assay the same options.
Remembering Dmitri Nabokov, the Novelist’s Son and Literary Executor|Brian Boyd|May 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The ferricyanide had a small influence and, as might be expected, hyposulphite is fatal to the assay.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
I threw it into the fuming nitrous acid to assay it, and there arising a little effervescence, I added distilled water thereon.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume X (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The assay should be carried out as much as possible in the same flask.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

The assay is doubtless correct, but the deductions therefrom are most misleading.
Getting Gold|J. C. F. Johnson
The rougher the method of assay adopted, the larger should be the quantity of ore taken.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

British Dictionary definitions for assay

assay

verb (əˈseɪ)

to subject (a substance, such as silver or gold) to chemical analysis, as in the determination of the amount of impurity

(tr) to attempt (something or to do something)

(tr; may take a clause as object) to test, analyse, or evaluateto assay the significance of early childhood experience

noun (əˈseɪ, ˈæseɪ)

an analysis, esp a determination of the amount of metal in an ore or the amounts of impurities in a precious metal
(as modifier)an assay office

a substance undergoing an analysis

a written report on the results of an analysis

a test

archaic an attempt

Derived Formsassayable, adjectiveassayer, noun

Word Origin for assay

C14: from Old Northern French assai; see essay

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for assay (1 of 2)

assay

c.1300, "to try, endeavor, strive; test the quality of," from Anglo-French assaier, from assai (n.), from Old French essai "trial" (see essay).

Word Origin and History for assay (1 of 2)

assay

"trial, test of quality, test of character," mid-14c., from Anglo-French assai (see assay (v.)). Meaning "analysis" is from late 14c.

Medicine definitions for assay

assay

[ ăs′ā′, ă-sā′ ]

n.

Qualitative or quantitative analysis of a substance, especially of an ore or a drug, to determine its components.

A substance to be so analyzed.

The result of such an analysis.

An analysis or examination.

v.

To subject a substance to chemical analysis.

To examine a person's capability by trial or experiment; put to a test.

To evaluate a situation; assess.

To attempt; try.

To be shown by analysis to contain a certain proportion of atoms, molecules, compounds, or precious metal.

Science definitions for assay

assay

[ ăs′ā, ə-sā′ ]

A quantitative determination of the amount of a given substance in a particular sample. Assays are regularly used to determine the purity of precious metals. They can be performed by wet methods or dry methods. In the wet method, the sample is dissolved in a reagent, like an acid, until the purified metal is separated out. In the dry method, the sample is mixed with a flux (a substance such as borax or silica that helps lower the melting temperature) and then the sample is heated to the point where impurities in the metal fuse with the flux, leaving the purified metal as a residue.

A bioassay.

assay

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of assay

Examples from the Web for assay

British Dictionary definitions for assay

assay

verb (əˈseɪ)

noun (əˈseɪ, ˈæseɪ)

Word Origin for assay

Word Origin and History for assay (1 of 2)

assay

Word Origin and History for assay (1 of 2)

assay

Medicine definitions for assay

assay

n.

v.

Science definitions for assay

assay