Assay
[ah-SEY]
Part of speech: verb
Origin: French, 14th century
1.
Determine the content or quality of (a metal or ore).
2.
Examine (something) in order to assess its nature.
Examples of Assay in a sentence
"Herman assayed the ring to determine if it was white gold."
"Will assayed his friend's computer to learn how to build his own."
About Assay
This word stems from the Anglo-French “assaier,” from the Old French “assai,” which is a variant of “essai,” meaning “trial.”
Did you Know?
“Assay” is easily confused with “essay,” not only because they look alike, but also because they have the same root, the Middle French “essai.” At one point, they were synonyms, but now, most people associate the noun “essay” with the papers they were assigned to write in school.
