Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Assay
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. Shakespeare
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.
Assay master
, an officer who assays or tests gold or silver coin or bullion.
– Assay ton
, a weight of 29,166⅔ grams.
As-say′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Assayed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Assaying
.] 1.
To try; to attempt; to apply.
[Obs. or Archaic]
To-night let us
assay
our plot. Shakespeare
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′
,Verb.
I.
To attempt, try, or endeavor.
[Archaic. In this sense essay is now commonly used.]
She thrice
assayed
to speak. Dryden.
Webster 1828 Edition
Assay
ASSA'Y
,Noun.
1.
The trial of the goodness, purity, weight, value, &c. of metals or metallic substances. Any operation or experiement for ascertaining the quantity of a precious metal in an ore or mineral. Analysis is a term of more comprehensive import, extending to an examination of the nature and quantities of all parts of the compound.2.
In law, an examination of weights and measures by the standard.3.
Examination; trial; effort; first entrance upon any business; attempt. In these senses, which are found in old authors, now rarely used. [See Essay.]4.
Value; great purity. Obs.ASSA'Y
,Verb.
T.
1.
To try or prove, by examination or experiment, the quantity and purity of metallic substances.2.
To apply to the touchstone.