cupel
Americannoun
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a small, cuplike, porous container, usually made of bone ash, used in assaying, as for separating gold and silver from lead.
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a receptacle or furnace bottom in which silver is refined.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a refractory pot in which gold or silver is refined
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a small porous bowl made of bone ash in which gold and silver are recovered from a lead button during assaying
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cupel
1595–1605; < Medieval Latin cūpella, equivalent to Latin cūp ( a ) tub + -ella diminutive suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The resulting alloy, which is called the lead button, is then submitted to fusion on a very porous support, made of bone-ash, and called a cupel.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various
The button is taken out, purged of slag, and placed in a cupel, where the gold is separated from the lead.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius
Finally, in the same way that gold and silver are separated from lead in a cupel, so also are they separated in the cupellation furnace.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius
The goldsmith not content with the touch-stone and the application of aquafortis, exposed the metal on the cupel with lead and fused it with antimony, but it sustained no loss.
From The Seven Follies of Science [2nd ed.] A popular account of the most famous scientific impossibilities and the attempts which have been made to solve them. by Phin, John
Then as soon as possible remove the cupel out of the furnace, and take the button out of it while it is still warm, in order that it does not adhere to the ashes.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius
If the copper bead obtained by fusing upon carbonate of soda be cupelled with assay lead, a silver bead will be obtained.
In the second, the lead button containing the gold or silver is cupelled and the resulting gold or silver button is weighed.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various
It would be cupelled, parted, &c., as nearly as possible under the same conditions as the actual assays.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
The resulting button of lead is cupelled for fine metal.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
By comparing the weights of the original ore, the cupelled button and the final product, statistics were obtained.
From The Westerners by White, Stewart Edward
The determination may also be made by cupelling the button of lead got in the dry lead assay.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
Refer to the table on page 105 to find what weight of lead is required for cupelling 1 gram of alloy.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
The best confirmatory test is made by wrapping the precipitate in a little sheet lead, and cupelling, when the silver will be left in the metallic state, and is easily recognized.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
If these larger cupels are not at hand the larger buttons will have to be reduced in size by a scorification before cupelling.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
Similarly, cupelling 0.1 gram, the resulting button may be 0.098; the absolute loss is only 0.002 gram, but this equals 2 per cent. of the silver present.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
