cupel

[ kyoo-puhl, kyoo-pel ]

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.

verb (used with object),cu·peled, cu·pel·ing or (especially British) cu·pelled, cu·pel·ling.
  1. to heat or refine in a cupel.

Origin of cupel

1
1595–1605; <Medieval Latin cūpella, equivalent to Latin cūp(a) tub + -ella diminutive suffix

Other words from cupel

  • cu·pel·er [kyoo-puh-ler], /ˈkyu pə lər/, cu·pel·ler [kyoo-pel-er], /kyuˈpɛl ər/, noun
  • cu·pel·la·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cupel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cupel

cupel

/ (ˈkjuːpəl, kjʊˈpɛl) /


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

verb-pels, -pelling or -pelled or US -pels, -peling or -peled
  1. (tr) to refine (gold or silver) by means of cupellation

Origin of cupel

1
C17: from French coupelle, diminutive of coupe cup

Derived forms of cupel

  • cupeller, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012