Alloy

al-loi′, v.t. to mix one metal with another: to reduce the purity of a metal by mixing a baser one with it: ( fig. ) to debase: to temper or qualify.— n. a mixture of two or more metals (when mercury is one of the ingredients, it is an amalgam ): a baser metal mixed with a finer: anything that deteriorates.— n. Alloy′age , the act of alloying or mixing metals: a mixture of different metals. [O. Fr. alei (Fr. aloi ), aleier —L. alligāre . The modern Fr. words aloi and aloyer were confounded with Fr. à loi , to law, and the same confusion was transferred into English.]