Assay

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Assay \As*say"\, n. [OF. asai, essai, trial, F. essa. See
     {Essay}, n.]
     1. Trial; attempt; essay. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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              I am withal persuaded that it may prove much more


              easy in the assay than it now seems at distance.
                                                    --Milton.
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     2. Examination and determination; test; as, an assay of bread
        or wine. [Obs.]
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              This can not be, by no assay of reason. --Shak.
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     3. Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk;
        hardship; state of being tried. [Obs.]
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              Through many hard assays which did betide.
                                                    --Spenser.
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     4. Tested purity or value. [Obs.]
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              With gold and pearl of rich assay.    --Spenser.
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     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.
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     6. The alloy or metal to be assayed. --Ure.
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     Usage: {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}.
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     Note: Assay is used adjectively or as the first part of a
           compound; as, assay balance, assay furnace.
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     {Assay master}, an officer who assays or tests gold or silver
        coin or bullion.
  
     {Assay ton}, a weight of 29,1662/3 grams.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Assay \As*say"\, v. i.
     To attempt, try, or endeavor. [Archaic. In this sense essay
     is now commonly used.]
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           She thrice assayed to speak.             --Dryden.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Assay \As*say"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Assayed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Assaying}.] [OF. asaier, essaier, F. essayer, fr. essai. See
     {Assay}, n., {Essay}, v.]
     1. To try; to attempt; to apply. [Obs. or Archaic]
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              To-night let us assay our plot.       --Shak.
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              Soft words to his fierce passion she assayed.
                                                    --Milton.
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     2. To affect. [Obs.]
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              When the heart is ill assayed.        --Spenser.
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     3. To try tasting, as food or drink. [Obs.]
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     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.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  assay
       n 1: an appraisal of the state of affairs; "they made an assay of
            the contents"; "a check on its dependability under
            stress" [syn: {check}]
       2: a substance that is undergoing an analysis of its components
       3: a written report of the results of an analysis of the
          composition of some substance
       4: 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.
       v 1: analyze (chemical substances)
       2: make an effort or attempt; "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" [syn:
           {try}, {seek}, {attempt}, {essay}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  144 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ASSAY. A chemical examination of metals, by which the quantity of valuable
  or precious metal contained in any mineral or metallic mixture is
  ascertained. 2. By the acts of Congress of March 3, 1823, 3 Story's L. U. S.
  1924; of June 25, 1834, 4 Shars. cont. Story's L. U. S. 2373; and of June
  28, 1834, Id. 2377, it is made the duty of the secretary of the treasury to
  cause assays to be made at the mint of the United States, of certain coins
  made current by the said acts, and to make report of the result thereof to
  congress.