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assay
[ verb a-sey; noun as-ey, a-sey ]
/ verb æˈseɪ; noun ˈæs eɪ, æˈseɪ /
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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
1250–1300; 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. 2022
How to use assay in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for assay
assay
verb (əˈseɪ)
noun (əˈseɪ, ˈæseɪ)
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
Medical definitions for assay
assay
[ ăs′ā′, ă-sā′ ]
n.
v.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Scientific 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.