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

Tin which contains silver should not at the beginning of the assay be placed in a cupel, lest the silver, as often happens, be consumed and converted into fumes, together with the tin.

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

The button which settles at the bottom should be transferred to a cupel, and should be re-melted, in order that the lead may be separated from the silver.

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

Then the cupel is put into a very hot furnace so arranged that a current of air passes over it.

From Harper's Round Table, September 3, 1895 by Various

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