Result from Foreign Dictionaries (4 entries 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. [1913 Webster] I am withal persuaded that it may prove much more easy in the assay than it now seems at distance. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. Examination and determination; test; as, an assay of bread or wine. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] This can not be, by no assay of reason. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk; hardship; state of being tried. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Through many hard assays which did betide. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] 4. Tested purity or value. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] With gold and pearl of rich assay. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 6. The alloy or metal to be assayed. --Ure. [1913 Webster] 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}. [1913 Webster] Note: 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 29,1662/3 grams. [1913 Webster] 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.] [1913 Webster] She thrice assayed to speak. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 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] [1913 Webster] To-night let us assay our plot. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Soft words to his fierce passion she assayed. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. To affect. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] When the heart is ill assayed. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] 3. To try tasting, as food or drink. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [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: {assay}, {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}, {assay}]