crucible
/ˈkɹuː.sɪ.bəl/noun
crucible is spelled C-R-U-C-I-B-L-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, crucible means “A cup-shaped piece of laboratory equipment used to contain chemical compounds when heating them to very high temperatures” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of crucible is crucibles.
How many letters and syllables are in crucible?
| Letters | 8: C-R-U-C-I-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,516th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is crucible?
Crucible appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce crucible?
- /ˈkɹuː.sɪ.bəl/
Crucible has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-crucible.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of crucible
- crucibles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crucible mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A cup-shaped piece of laboratory equipment used to contain chemical compounds when heating them to very high temperatures.
- 2
A heat-resistant container in which metals are melted, usually at temperatures above 500°C, commonly made of graphite with clay as a binder.
- 3
The bottom and hottest part of a blast furnace; the hearth.
- 4
A very difficult and trying experience, that acts as a refining or hardening process.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crucible in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | creuset , épreuve du feu, épreuve |
| German | Tiegel , Feuerprobe , Schmelztiegel |
| Portuguese | crisol, cadinho , prova de fogo |
| Spanish | crisol , prueba de fuego |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does crucible come from?
From Latin crucibulum (“night-lamp, metallurgic melting-pot”), apparently a derivative of crux (“cross”), perhaps by analogy to thūribulum (“censer”) and suffix -bulum, or from crucio (“to torment”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).