Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
ALLOY
I. noun see: ally
Date: 1604
the degree of mixture with base metals ; fineness, a substance composed of two or more metals or of a metal and a nonmetal intimately united usually by being fused together and dissolving in each other when molten,
3. an admixture that lessens value, an impairing alien element, a compound, mixture, or union of different things , a metal mixed with a more valuable metal to give durability or some other desired quality, II.
Date: 1661
transitive verb
1. temper , moderate , to impair or debase by admixture, to reduce the purity of by mixing with a less valuable metal, to mix so as to form an alloy, intransitive verb to lend itself to being alloyed