assay

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

/ verb æˈseɪ; noun ˈæs eɪ, æˈseɪ /

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See synonyms for: assay / assayable / assayer 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.

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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, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assay

assay , essay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use assay in a sentence

Binding assays are considered less reliable indicators of a vaccine’s power than the two types of neutralizing-antibody assays, but they are simpler, cheaper and faster to perform.
Scientists to Wall Street: You don’t really understand how COVID vaccine tests work|Jeremy Kahn|August 24, 2020|Fortune
Bud started out next day with three different samples for the assayer, and an air castle or two to keep him company.
Cabin Fever|B. M. Bower
The Text-book now offered to the public has been prepared to meet the existing want of a practical "handy book" for the Assayer.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
Properly, however, this work should be done by the assayer, if only for the following reason.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

The assayer sees to this and (whilst the funnels and filters are being prepared) makes any separation that is necessary.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
The pump is only used in exceptional cases; nearly all the filtrations required by the assayer can be made without it.
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 forms of assay

assayable, 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

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.

assay

Origin of assay

OTHER WORDS FROM assay

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assay

Words related to assay

How to use assay in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for assay

Derived forms of assay

Word Origin for assay

Scientific definitions for assay