# crucible

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɹuː.sɪ.bəl/ · frequency rank #21,481

## Definitions
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.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **crumble** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crucible-vs-crumble)
- **crucial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crucial-vs-crucible)
- **credible** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/credible-vs-crucible)
- **cruciate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cruciate-vs-crucible)

## Common misspellings (13)
`ccrucible`, `crcuible`, `crrucible`, `crucable`, `crucbile`, `cruccible`, `crucibble`, `crucibel`, `cruciblle`, `crucilbe`, `cruicble`, `curcible`, `rcucible`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/crucible