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 ]

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 ]

☞ 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 ]

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 ]

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 ]

a. That may be assayed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who assays. Specifically: One who examines metallic ores or compounds, for the purpose of determining the amount of any particular metal in the same, especially of gold or silver. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or process of testing, esp. of analyzing or examining metals and ores, to determine the proportion of pure metal. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A small standard weight used in assaying bullion, etc., sometimes equaling 0.5 gram, but varying with the assayer. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A weight of 29.166 + grams used in assaying, for convenience. Since it bears the same relation to the milligram that a ton of 2000 avoirdupois pounds does to the troy ounce, the weight in milligrams of precious metal obtained from an assay ton of ore gives directly the number of ounces to the ton. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]