assay

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: as=say

CIDE DICTIONARY

assay, n. [OF. asai, essai, trial, F. essa. See Essay, n.].

•  Trial; attempt; essay.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  "I am withal persuaded that it may prove much more easy in the assay than it now seems at distance."  [1913 Webster]
•  Examination and determination; test; as, an assay of bread or wine.  [1913 Webster]

  "This can not be, by no assay of reason."  [1913 Webster]
•  Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk; hardship; state of being tried.  [1913 Webster]

  "Through many hard assays which did betide."  [1913 Webster]
•  Tested purity or value.  [1913 Webster]

  "With gold and pearl of rich assay."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  The alloy or metal to be assayed.  Ure.  [1913 Webster]

  " Assay is used adjectively or as the first part of a compound; as, assay balance, assay furnace."  [1913 Webster]

Assay master, an officer who assays or tests gold or silver coin or bullion. -- Assay ton, a weight of 29,166\'a6 grams.

assay, v. t. [OF. asaier, essaier, F. essayer, fr. essai. See Assay, n., Essay, v.].

•  To try; to attempt; to apply.  [1913 Webster]

  "To-night let us assay our plot."  [1913 Webster]

  "Soft words to his fierce passion she assayed."  [1913 Webster]
•  To affect.  [1913 Webster]

  "When the heart is ill assayed."  [1913 Webster]
•  To try tasting, as food or drink.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

assay, v. i. 

 To attempt, try, or endeavor.  [1913 Webster]
"She thrice assayed to speak."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

assay, n. & v.
--n.
1 the testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality.
2 Chem. etc. the determination of the content or strength of a substance.
--v.
1 tr. make an assay of (a metal or ore).
2 tr. Chem. etc. perform a concentration on (a substance).
3 tr. show (content) on being assayed.
4 intr. make an assay.
5 tr. archaic attempt.

Idiom

Assay Office an establishment which awards hallmarks.

Derivative

assayer n.

Etymology

ME f. OF assaier, assai, var. of essayer, essai: see ESSAY

THESAURUS

assay

acid test, analysis, analyzation, analyze, anatomize, anatomizing, anatomy, appraise, appreciate, approach, assaying, assess, attempt, bid, blank determination, break down, break up, breakdown, breaking down, breaking up, breakup, bring to test, brouillon, calculate, calibrate, caliper, chance, check a parameter, compute, confirm, crack, criterion, crucial test, crucible, cut and try, determination, dial, dissect, dissection, divide, division, docimasy, effort, endeavor, engage, essay, estimate, evaluate, experiment, fathom, feeling out, first draft, fling, gambit, gauge, give a try, give a tryout, go, graduate, gravimetric analysis, have a go, kiteflying, lick, lift a finger, make an attempt, make an effort, measure, mensurate, mete, meter, move, offer, ordeal, pace, play around with, plumb, practice upon, prize, probation, probe, proof, prove, proximate analysis, put to trial, quantify, quantitative analysis, quantize, rate, reduce, reduce to elements, reduction to elements, research, resolution, resolve, road-test, rough draft, rough sketch, run a sample, sample, segment, segmentation, semimicroanalysis, separate, separation, shake down, shot, size, size up, sound, sounding out, span, stab, standard, step, stroke, strong bid, subdivide, subdivision, substantiate, survey, take a reading, taste, tentative, test, test case, touchstone, trial, trial and error, triangulate, try, try it on, try out, undertake, undertaking, validate, valuate, value, venture, venture on, venture upon, verification, verify, weigh, whack

ROGET THESAURUS

assay

Experiment

N experiment, essay, analysis, screen, trial, tentative method, t=atonnement, verification, probation, experimentum crucis, proof, (demonstration), criterion, diagnostic, test, probe, crucial test, acid test, litmus test, crucible, reagent, check, touchstone, pix, assay, ordeal, ring, litmus paper, curcuma paper, turmeric paper, test tube, analytical instruments, empiricism, rule of thumb, feeler, trial balloon, pilot balloon, messenger balloon, pilot engine, scout, straw to show the wind, speculation, random shot, leap in the dark, analyzer, analyst, assayist, adventurer, experimenter, experimentist, experimentalist, scientist, engineer, technician, subject, experimentee, guinea pig, experimental animal, protocol, experimental method, blind experiment, double-blind experiment, controlled experiment, poll, survey, opinion poll, epidemiological survey, retrospective analysis, retrospective survey, prospective survey, prospective analysis, statistical analysis, literature search, library research, tryout, audition, discovery, measurement, evidence, deduction, induction, abduction, experimental, empirical, probative, probatory, probationary, provisional, analytic, docimastic, tentative, unverified, unproven, speculative, untested, on trial, under examination, on probation, under probation, on one's trial, on approval, check it out, give it a try, see how it goes, Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.

VB experiment, essay, try, try out, assay, make an experiment, make a trial of, give a trial to, put on trial, subject to trial, experiment upon, rehearse, put to the test, bring to the test, submit to the test, submit to the proof, prove, verify, test, touch, practice upon, try one's strength, road-test, test drive, take for a spin, test fly, grope, feel one's way, grope for one's way, fumble, t=atonner, aller =a t=atons, put out a feeler, throw out a feeler, send up a trial balloon, send up a pilot balloon, see how the land lies, get the lay of the land, test the waters, feel out, sound out, take the pulse, see, check, check out, see how the wind blows, consult the barometer, feel the pulse, fish for, bob for, cast for, beat about for, angle, trawl, cast one's net, beat the bushes, try one's fortune, explore.

Measurement

VB measure, mete, determine, assay, evaluate, value, assess, rate, appraise, estimate, form an estimate, set a value on, appreciate, standardize, span, pace step, apply the compass, gauge, plumb, probe, sound, fathom, heave the log, heave the lead, survey, weigh, take an average, graduate.