cupel

[ kyoo-puhl, kyoo-pel ]

/ ˈkyu pəl, kyuˈpɛl /

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noun

a small, cuplike, porous container, usually made of bone ash, used in assaying, as for separating gold and silver from lead.

a receptacle or furnace bottom in which silver is refined.

verb (used with object), cu·peled, cu·pel·ing or (especially British) cu·pelled, cu·pel·ling.

to heat or refine in a cupel.

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Origin of cupel

1595–1605; <Medieval Latin cūpella, equivalent to Latin cūp(a) tub + -ella diminutive suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM cupel

cu·pel·er

[kyoo-puh-ler], /ˈkyu pə lər/, cu·pel·ler

[kyoo-pel-er], /kyuˈpɛl ər/, nouncu·pel·la·tion, noun

Words nearby cupel

cupboard, cupboard love, cupcake, cup coral, CUPE, cupel, cupellation, Cupertino, cupferron, Cup Final, cupflower

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use cupel in a sentence

Before removing the piston, turn it half-way round upon its axis so as to loosen and smooth the face of the cupel.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
A conveniently sized cupel is 1-1/4 inches in diameter and about 3/4 inch high.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
The cavity of the cupel is about 1/4 inch deep, and something of the shape shown in fig. 5.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
Silver remains after cupellation in flattened elliptical buttons, adhering but only slightly to the cupel.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

Another possible source of loss is the infiltration of small particles of alloy into the cupel.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

British Dictionary definitions for cupel

cupel

/ (ˈkjuːpəl, kjʊˈpɛl) /

noun

a refractory pot in which gold or silver is refined

a small porous bowl made of bone ash in which gold and silver are recovered from a lead button during assaying

verb -pels, -pelling or -pelled or US -pels, -peling or -peled

(tr) to refine (gold or silver) by means of cupellation

Derived forms of cupel

cupeller, noun

Word Origin for cupel

C17: from French coupelle, diminutive of coupe cup

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012