alloy

[n. al-oi, uh-loi; v. uh-loi] /n. ˈæl ɔɪ, əˈlɔɪ; v. əˈlɔɪ/

noun

a substance composed of two or more metals, or of a metal or metals with a nonmetal, intimately mixed, as by fusion or electrodeposition.

a less costly metal mixed with a more valuable one.

standard; quality; fineness.

admixture, as of good with evil.

anything added that serves to reduce quality or purity.

verb (used with object)

to mix (metals or metal with nonmetal) so as to form an alloy.

to reduce in value by an admixture of a less costly metal.

to debase, impair, or reduce by admixture; adulterate.

Origin

1590-1600; < Middle French aloi, Old French alei, noun derivative of aleier to combine < Latin alligāre to bind up, equivalent to al- al- + ligāre to bind (see ally, ligament); replacing earlier allay, Middle English < Anglo-French allai

Related forms

unalloyed, adjective

Can be confused

allay, alley, alloy, ally (see synonym study at allay)

Synonyms

4. fusion, blend, composite.

Examples from the web for alloy

Iron and nickel in the outer core form an alloy, or a mixture of metallic elements.
The magnetic properties of stainless steel vary from alloy to alloy.
The color is "white gold" but the alloy too soft, about as soft as silver.
These plates are made of very strong aluminum alloy with corprene facings bonded to them.
The Hindenburg 's latticework airframe was constructed of a lightweight alloy composed largely of aluminum and copper.
The “muscles” are wire springs made from shape-memory alloy.
The metal in question is an alloy of iron and nickel.
These strong alloy wires exert continuous light pressure on the teeth.
It often is mixed with other metals to form an alloy.
Ormolu is an imitation gold made of an alloy of copper and tin.

British Dictionary definitions for alloy

alloy

noun (ˈælɔɪ; əˈlɔɪ)

a metallic material, such as steel, brass, or bronze, consisting of a mixture of two or more metals or of metallic elements with nonmetallic elements. Alloys often have physical properties markedly different from those of the pure metals

something that impairs the quality or reduces the value of the thing to which it is added

verb (transitive) (əˈlɔɪ)

to add (one metal or element to another metal or element) to obtain a substance with a desired property

to debase (a pure substance) by mixing with an inferior element

to diminish or impair

Word Origin

C16: from Old French aloi a mixture, from aloier to combine, from Latin alligāre, from ligāre to bind

Word Origin and History for alloy

early 14c. "relative freedom of a noble metal from alloy or other impurities," from Anglo-French alai, Old French aloi, from aloiier (see alloy (v.)). Meaning " base metal alloyed with a noble metal" is from c.1400. Modern spelling from late 17c.

c.1400, "mix with a baser metal," from Old French aloiier "assemble, join," from Latin alligare "bind to, tie to," compound of ad- "to" (see ad-) + ligare "to bind" (see ligament); hence "bind one thing to another." Related: Alloyed; alloying.

alloy in Medicine

alloy al·loy (āl'oi', ə-loi')
n.
A homogeneous mixture or solid solution of two or more metals, the atoms of one replacing or occupying interstitial positions between the atoms of the other.

alloy in Science

alloy

(āl'oi')
A metallic substance made by mixing and fusing two or more metals, or a metal and a nonmetal, to obtain desirable qualities such as hardness, lightness, and strength. Brass, bronze, and steel are all alloys.

alloy in Culture

alloy [(al-oy, uh-loy)]

A material made of two or more metals, or of a metal and another material. For example, brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. Alloys often have unexpected characteristics. In the examples given above, brass is stronger than either copper or zinc, and steel is stronger than either iron or carbon.

alloy in Technology

language
A language by Thanasis Mitsolides mitsolid@cs.nyu.edu which combines functional programming, object-oriented programming and logic programming ideas, and is suitable for massively parallel systems.
Evaluating modes support serial or parallel execution, eager evaluation or lazy evaluation, nondeterminism or multiple solutions etc. ALLOY is simple as it only requires 29 primitives in all (half of which are for object oriented programming support).
It runs on SPARC.
(ftp://cs.nyu.edu/pub/local/alloy/).
["The Design and Implementation of ALLOY, a Parallel Higher Level Programming Language", Thanasis Mitsolides mitsolid@cs2.nyu.edu, PhD Thesis NYU 1990].
(1991-06-11)