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:
Melt this button again in the scorifier and a third time in the cupel.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola
The bone ash is then pressed into shape with the piston, and the cupel finished with the help of three or four smart blows from a mallet.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Cornelius Beringer
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 cupel has the remarkable power of absorbing the oxides of metal, and so in an hour or so there is nothing left in it save a little bead of silver and gold.
From Harper's Round Table, September 3, 1895 by Various
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
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 Cornelius Beringer
Effect of Varying Lead.—In each experiment 0.4 gram of silver was taken and cupelled with the lead.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Cornelius Beringer
Effect of Copper and Antimony.—0.1 gram of silver was cupelled with 20 grams of lead, and to one batch 0.5 gram of antimony, and to another 0.5 gram of copper was added.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Cornelius Beringer
Effect of Varying Temperature.—0.4 gram of silver was cupelled with 20 grams of lead.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Cornelius Beringer
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 Cornelius Beringer
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 Cornelius Beringer
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 Cornelius Beringer
Determination of Silver in Copper.—The silver is best separated in the wet way before cupelling, but if the proportion is not too small, it can be found by cupellation.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Cornelius Beringer
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 Cornelius Beringer
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