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assay

/ˈæseɪ/noun, verb

assay is spelled A-S-S-A-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, assay means “Trial, attempt” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of assay is assays.

How many letters and syllables are in assay?

Letters5: A-S-S-A-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.9 times per million words; the 20,101st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is assay?

Assay appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce assay?

  • /ˈæseɪ/
  • /əˈseɪ/

Assay has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-assay.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of assay

  • assays plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • assaying participle, present
  • assayed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does assay mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Trial, attempt.

  2. 2

    Examination and determination; test.

  3. 3

    The qualitative or quantitative chemical analysis of something.

  4. 4

    Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk; hardship; state of being tried.

  5. 5

    Tested purity or value.

  6. 6

    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.

  7. 7

    The alloy or metal to be assayed.

verb

  1. 1

    To attempt (something).

  2. 2

    archaicTo try, attempt (to do something).

  3. 3

    To analyze or estimate the composition or value of (a metal, ore etc.).

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo test the abilities of (someone) in combat; to fight.

  5. 5

    To affect.

  6. 6

    To try tasting, as food or drink.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Assay in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchessai, test (trial, attempt, essay), dosage (the qualitative or quantitative chemical…), analyser (to analyze (a metal, compound))
GermanVersuch, Prüfung, Test, Untersuchung (trial, attempt, essay), Assay, Analyse (the qualitative or quantitative chemical…)
Spanishensayo, intento, prueba, ensaye (trial, attempt, essay), ensay (the qualitative or quantitative chemical…), probar (to attempt, to try)
Portugueseensaio (the qualitative or quantitative chemical…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does assay come from?

From Middle English assay (noun) and assayen (verb), from Anglo-Norman assai (noun) and Anglo-Norman assaier (verb), from Old French essai. Doublet of essay.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after assay