Obs. Forms: 4–6 cros-, 4–7 crosse-, 7 crosslet; also 4 croslette, crosel(l)et(t, crosselette, croislet; cres(e)let(e, cresselet, crescellette. [app. dim. of OF. croiseul night-lamp, CRUCIBLE. Besides croiseul, in Cotgr. cruzeul, crusol, OF. had also the parallel dim. forms croisel, crosel, cruseau, and later F. croiset, now creuset (see CRUSET); both endings appear to be present in croselet. F. had also a variant creseul: cf. our variants in cres-. The sense ‘lamp’ is app. not recorded in Eng.] A crucible.

1

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Can. Yeom. Prol. & T., 240. And sondry vessels maad of erthe and glas … Violes, crosletz, and sublymatories [v.r. croslets, -is, creseletes, -ys, cresletes, crescellettes]. Ibid., 600. The coles for to couchen al aboue The crosselet [v.r. croslet, crosselette, croislet, cresselet].

2

1584.  R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., XIV. i. 295. Their … alembicks, viols, croslets, cucurbits.

3

1592.  Lyly, Galathea, II. iii. Blowing of bellowes … and scraping of croslets.

4

1610.  B. Jonson, Alch., I. iii. Your crosse-lets, crucibles, and cucurbites.

5