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assay

UK/ˈæseɪ/US/ˈæseɪ/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,182 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: assays

An assay is a test of how much metal an ore contains. Send it for assay, an assay result, assay office.

British assay offices test precious metals and stamp them with a hallmark, which is one of the oldest consumer protections there is — the system dates from 1300. In biology, an assay is any test measuring a substance. Note that assay and essay are the same word, both meaning a trial.

Definitions of assay

  1. 1nounassayA test of how much metal an ore contains.C2

    “The assay showed that the ore contained enough gold to make the mine profitable.”

assay is a test.

Where it comes from

Anglo-Norman assai comes from Old French essai, a trial, from Latin exagium, a weighing. Essay is the same word.

  1. Anglo-Norman

    assai

  2. Middle English

    assay

  3. English, today

    assay

From Middle English assay and assayen, from Anglo-Norman assai and Anglo-Norman assaier, from Old French essai. a doublet of essay.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Rocks & Minerals

Practise this word

assay in the wild

  • The measured entity is often called the analyte, the measurand, or the target of the assay.

    Assay

  • The difference in the assay outcome is used to deduce the unknown quality or quantity of the target in question.

    Assay

  • Enzyme assays are laboratory methods for measuring enzymatic activity.

    Enzyme assay

  • The Birmingham Assay Office, one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom, is located in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham.

    Birmingham Assay Office

  • Raw precious metals (bullion) are assayed by an assay office.

    Metallurgical assay

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • assay office