assay

American  

[a-sey, as-ey, a-sey] / æˈseɪ, ˈæs eɪ, æˈseɪ /

verb (used with object)

1. to examine or analyze.

   to assay a situation; to assay an event.

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

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

4. to judge the quality of; assess; evaluate.

   to assay someone's efforts.

5. to try or test; put to trial.

   to assay one's strength; to assay one's debating abilities.

6. to attempt; try; essay.

   to assay a dance step.

---

verb (used without object)

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

noun

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

2. a substance undergoing analysis or trial.

3. a detailed report of the findings in assaying a substance.

4. Archaic.  examination; trial; attempt; essay.

assay British  

verb

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

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

3. (tr; may take a clause as object) to test, analyse, or evaluate

   to assay the significance of early childhood experience

---

noun

1. 1. an analysis, esp a determination of the amount of metal in an ore or the amounts of impurities in a precious metal

   2. ( as modifier )

      an assay office

2. a substance undergoing an analysis

3. a written report on the results of an analysis

4. a test

5. archaic  an attempt

assay Scientific  

/ ăs′ā,ə-sā′ /

1. 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.

2. A bioassay.

---

Other Word Forms

• assayable adjective
• assayer noun
• unassayed adjective
• unassaying adjective

Etymology

Origin of assay

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

Example Sentences

Currently, smell tests aren’t covered by insurance and don’t even have a code for doctors to use for diagnosis or insurance reimbursement as blood tests or other assays do.

From Scientific American

Last year, the European Medicines Agency gave its blessing to a commercial assay that offers a simple way for scientists and public health officials to measure T-cell immunity.

From Los Angeles Times

Meeusen says he and his Mayo Clinic colleagues are generally wary of new medical tests, but that the evidence for ceramide testing was compelling enough to start offering the assays to patients in 2016.

From Science Magazine

Researchers would also like to sequence more of the viruses they catch, because standard PCR assays usually can’t distinguish between variants.

From Science Magazine

Wright says that only a mouse assay or a pricey molecular analysis tool operated by the state can definitively confirm that shellfish are truly safe to eat.

From Scientific American