assay Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an appraisal of the state of affairs
    check.
    • they made an assay of the contents
    • a check on its dependability under stress
  2. noun a substance that is undergoing an analysis of its components
  3. noun a written report of the results of an analysis of the composition of some substance
  4. noun a quantitative or qualitative test of a substance (especially an ore or a drug) to determine its components; frequently used to test for the presence or concentration of infectious agents or antibodies etc.
  5. verb analyze (chemical substances)
  6. verb make an effort or attempt
    try; attempt; seek; essay.
    • He tried to shake off his fears
    • The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps
    • The police attempted to stop the thief
    • He sought to improve himself
    • She always seeks to do good in the world

WordNet

As*say" noun
Etymology
OF. asai, essai, trial, F. essa. See Essay, n.
Definitions
  1. Trial; attempt; essay. Obs. Chaucer.
    I am withal persuaded that it may prove much more easy in the assay than it now seems at distance. Milton.
  2. Examination and determination; test; as, an assay of bread or wine. Obs.
    This can not be, by no assay of reason. Shak.
  3. Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk; hardship; state of being tried. Obs.
    Through many hard assays which did betide. Spenser.
  4. Tested purity or value. Obs.
    With gold and pearl of rich assay. Spenser.
  5. (Metallurgy) The act or process of ascertaining the proportion of a particular metal in an ore or alloy; especially, the determination of the proportion of gold or silver in bullion or coin.
  6. The alloy or metal to be assayed. Ure. Assay and essay are radically the same word; but modern usage has appropriated assay chiefly to experiments in metallurgy, and essay to intellectual and bodily efforts. See Essay. ✍ Assay is used adjectively or as the first part of a compound; as, assay balance, assay furnace.
As*say" transitive verb
Etymology
OF. asaier, essaier, F. essayer, fr. essai. See Assay, n., Essay, v.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Assayed present participle & verbal noun Assaying
Definitions
  1. To try; to attempt; to apply. Obs. or Archaic
    To-night let us assay our plot. Shak.
    Soft words to his fierce passion she assayed. Milton.
  2. To affect. Obs.
    When the heart is ill assayed. Spenser.
  3. To try tasting, as food or drink. Obs.
  4. To subject, as an ore, alloy, or other metallic compound, to chemical or metallurgical examination, in order to determine the amount of a particular metal contained in it, or to ascertain its composition.
As*say" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To attempt, try, or endeavor. Archaic. In this sense essay is now commonly used.
    She thrice assayed to speak. Dryden.

Webster 1913