cupel

American  

[kyoo-puhl, kyoo-pel] / ˈkyu pəl, kyuˈpɛl /

noun

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

2. a receptacle or furnace bottom in which silver is refined.

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verb (used with object)

cupeled, cupeling, cupelled, cupelling

1. to heat or refine in a cupel.

cupel British  

/ kjʊˈpɛl, ˈkjuːpəl /

noun

1. a refractory pot in which gold or silver is refined

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

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• cupeler noun
• cupellation noun
• cupeller noun

Etymology

Origin of cupel

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

Example Sentences

When the lead has absorbed the silver which was in the tin, then, and not till then, it is heated in the cupel.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius

The cupel, when the lead and copper are wanting, attracts the particles of gold and silver, and absorbs them.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius

Finally, the stibium with a little lead added, is melted in the cupel, in which, after all the rest has been consumed by the fire, the silver alone remains.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius

Then take the beads out of the cupel and clean them of dross.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius

Other metals, except the silver and gold, also oxidize, and are carried by the melted litharge into the cupel.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various