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assay
[ verb a-sey; noun as-ey, a-sey ]
/ verb ĂŠËseÉȘ; noun ËĂŠs eÉȘ, ĂŠËseÉȘ /
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verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
to contain, as shown by analysis, a certain proportion of usually precious metal.
noun
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Origin of assay
1250â1300; Middle English <Middle French; variant of essay
OTHER WORDS FROM assay
as·say·a·ble, adjectiveas·say·er, nounun·as·sayed, adjectiveun·as·say·ing, adjectiveWORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assay
assay , essayWords nearby assay
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use assay in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for assay
assay
verb (ÉËseÉȘ)
noun (ÉËseÉȘ, ËĂŠseÉȘ)
Derived forms of assay
assayable, adjectiveassayer, nounWord 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
Scientific definitions for assay
assay
[ ÄsâČÄ, É-sÄâČ ]
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.
The American HeritageÂź Science Dictionary
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