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:
When the button has been taken out of the crucible and cooled, it is melted in a cupel, first until the antimony is exhaled, and thereafter until the lead is separated from it.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius
The resulting lead button hammered into shape and carefully cleansed from slag is ready for the cupel.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various
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
After the button has been purged of slag, it is put into the cupel, and the gold and silver are separated from the lead; the gold is parted from the silver with aqua valens.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius
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 whole lot are then cupelled as nearly as possible under the same conditions.
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 lead is then folded over, with the help of two pins; and cupelled.
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
This should be melted down in a small crucible, and the resulting button of lead cupelled.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
It is easy to determine what allowance must be made for the loss in cupellation by cupelling side by side with the assay piece an alloy of similar and known composition.
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 silver is incorporated with the gold, and at the same time the copper is eliminated, by cupelling with sheet lead.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
Silver, &c., in gold bullion.—The base metals are generally determined by cupelling .5 gram of the alloy with 5 grams of lead.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius
This property is taken advantage of in the operation of calcining, scorifying, cupelling, &c.
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.
