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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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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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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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