Etymology : French aloi, from Old French alei, from aleir to combine, from Latin alligare to bind; more at ALLY
Pronunciation : a-"loi
also &-loi
Function : noun
Date : 1604
1. mixture of metals; precious metal (i.e. gold or silver) mixed with an inferior metal. mix metals; corrupt by adding other substances; reduce in value or quality. alloy\al*loy"\, v. t. to form a metallic compound. gold and iron alloy with ease.alloy \al*loy"\, n. [oe. alai, of. alei, f. aloyer, to alloy, alier to ally. see:
alloy, v. t.].
2. any combination or compound of metals fused together; a mixture of metals; for example, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc. but when mercury is one of the metals, the compound is called an amalgam.
3. the quality, or comparative purity, of gold or silver; fineness.
4. a baser metal mixed with a finer. fine silver is silver without the mixture of any baser metal. alloy is baser metal mixed with it.
5. admixture of anything which lessens the value or detracts from; as, no happiness is without alloy. "pure english without latin alloy." harrison.alloy \al*loy"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. alloyed ; p. pr. & vb. n. alloying.] [f. aloyer, of. alier, allier, later allayer, fr. l. aligare. see:
alloy, n., ally, v. t., and cf. allay.].
6. to reduce the purity of by mixing with a less valuable substance; as, to alloy gold with silver or copper, or silver with copper.
7. to mix, as metals, so as to form a compound.
8. to abate, impair, or debase by mixture; to allay; as, to alloy pleasure with misfortunes.
9. Any combination or compound of metals fused together; a mixture of metals; for example, brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc.
10. But when mercury is one of the metals, the compound is called an amalgam.
11. The quality, or comparative purity, of gold or silver; fineness.
12. A baser metal mixed with a finer.
13. Admixture of anything which lessens the value or detracts from; as, no happiness is without alloy.
14. To reduce the purity of by mixing with a less valuable substance; as, to alloy gold with silver or copper, or silver with copper.
15. To mix, as metals, so as to form a compound.
16. To abate, impair, or debase by mixture; to allay; as, to alloy pleasure with misfortunes.
17. To form a metallic compound. a mixture containing two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements usually fused together or dissolving into each other when molten; "brass is an alloy of zinc and copper" make an alloy of.
18. An alloy is a metal that is made by mixing two or more types of metal together. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. a metal that consists of two or more metals mixed together (aloi, from aloyer , from alligare; ALLY). to mix one metal with another. Metallic substance composed of two or more elements, as either a mixture, compound, or solid solution. The components of alloys are ordinarily themselves metals, though carbon is an essential nonmetal component of steel. Alloys are usually produced by melting the mixture of ingredients. The value of alloys was discovered in very ancient times; brass (copper and zinc) and bronze (copper and tin) were especially important. Today the most important are the alloy steels, which have a wide range of special properties, including hardness, toughness, corrosion resistance, magnetizability, and workability.