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

First put the lead into a cupel, and after it begins to smoke, add the copper; the fire generally consumes the copper, together with the lead, in about one hour and a quarter.

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

This is evaporated in a clay cupel called a ghariya by which the mercury is got rid of and the gold left behind.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV Kumhar-Yemkala by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)

Lastly, place it in the cupel, which assay can be carried out in the space of half an hour.

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

The third is the most delicate, and by this we weigh the beads of gold or silver, which, when the assay is completed, settle in the bottom of the cupel.

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