different between assay vs opinion

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æse?/, /??se?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Noun

assay (plural assays)

1. Trial, attempt.
2. Examination and determination; test.
3. The qualitative or quantitative chemical analysis of something.
4. Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk; hardship; state of being tried.
5. Tested purity or value.
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. The alloy or metal to be assayed.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ure to this entry?)

Translations

Verb

assay (third-person singular simple present assays, present participle assaying, simple past and past participle assayed)

1. (transitive) To attempt (something). [from 14th c.]
   • 1936, Alfred Edward Housman, More Poems, IV, The Sage to the Young Man, ll.5-8:

   • 2011, ‘All-pro, anti-American’, The Economist, 28 May:

2. (archaic, intransitive) To try, attempt (to do something). [14th-19th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts IX:

3. (transitive) To analyze or estimate the composition or value of (a metal, ore etc.). [from 15th c.]
4. (obsolete, transitive) To test the abilities of (someone) in combat; to fight. [15th-17th c.]
5. To affect.

6. To try tasting, as food or drink.

Translations

Derived terms

Further reading

• assay on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Asays, Yassa

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman assai, from Late Latin exagium.

Alternative forms

• assai, assaie, asaie, assaye, asay, say, sai

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?s?i?/, /?as?i?/, /s?i?/
• Rhymes: -?i?

Noun

assay (plural assayes)

1. Examining; investigation, looking into, research:
   1. Trialling, assaying; the ensuring of quality (usually of a substance, but also of a document)
   2. The trial or testing of one's personality or personal qualities.
   3. An attack (as a trial of one's mettle or ability on the battlefield)
   4. The trialling of comestibles or nourishments (mostly in ceremony)
2. A try or effort towards something.
3. (rare) Facts in support in assertion; evidence.
4. (rare) One's personality; the nature of something or someone.
5. (rare) A deed, action or doing; an endeavour or business.

Derived terms

• assaier
• assayen
• assaynge

Descendants

• English: assay, say
• Scots: assay, say, sey

References

• “assai, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.
• “sai, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.

Etymology 2

Verb

assay

1. Alternative form of assayen

English

Etymology

From Middle English opinion, opinioun, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French opinion, from Latin op?ni?, from op?nor (“to opine”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??p?nj?n/
• Rhymes: -?nj?n
• Hyphenation: opin?ion

Noun

opinion (plural opinions)

1. A belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed, either through objective or subjective reasoning, about a topic, issue, person or thing.
   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist

     Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.

2. The judgment or sentiment which the mind forms of persons or things; estimation.
   • 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, I. vii. 32:

     I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people.

   • Friendship […] gives a man a peculiar right and claim to the good opinion of his friend.

3. (obsolete) Favorable estimation; hence, consideration; reputation; fame; public sentiment or esteem.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, V. iv. 47:

     Thou hast redeemed thy lost opinion.
4. (obsolete) Obstinacy in holding to one's belief or impression; opiniativeness; conceitedness.
   • 1590, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, V. i. 5:

     Your reasons at / dinner have been sharp and sententious, pleasant / without scurrility, witty without affection, audacious / without impudency, learned without opinion, and / strange without heresy.

5. The formal decision, or expression of views, of a judge, an umpire, a doctor, or other party officially called upon to consider and decide upon a matter or point submitted.
6. (European Union law) a judicial opinion delivered by an Advocate General to the European Court of Justice where he or she proposes a legal solution to the cases for which the court is responsible

Derived terms

Related terms

• opination
• opine
• opinionated

Translations

See also

• fact

Verb

opinion (third-person singular simple present opinions, present participle opinioning, simple past and past participle opinioned)

1. (transitive, archaic) To have or express as an opinion.
   • 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Graden of Cyrus (Folio Society 2007, p. 166)

     But if (as some opinion) King Ahasuerus were Artaxerxes Mnemon [...], our magnified Cyrus was his second Brother

Translations

References

• opinion at OneLook Dictionary Search
• opinion in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• opinion in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Esperanto

Noun

opinion

1. accusative singular of opinio

French

Etymology

From Middle French opinion, from Latin op?ni?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.pi.nj??/

Noun

opinion f (plural opinions)

1. opinion (thought, estimation)

Derived terms

Further reading

• “opinion” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Etymology

From Latin op?ni?.

Noun

opinion f (plural opinions)

1. opinion (thought, estimation)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin op?ni?, via French opinion

Noun

opinion m (definite singular opinionen, indefinite plural opinioner, definite plural opinionene)

1. (public) opinion

Derived terms

• folkeopinion

References

• “opinion” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin op?ni?, via French opinion

Noun

opinion m (definite singular opinionen, indefinite plural opinionar, definite plural opinionane)

1. (public) opinion

Derived terms

• folkeopinion

References

• “opinion” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin op?ni?.

Pronunciation

Noun

opinion f (plural opinions)

1. opinion

   Synonym: vejaire