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cobalt: cobalt: [17] German kobold means ‘goblin’: and in former times it was believed by German silver miners that impurities in the ore they were extracting, which lessened the value of the silver and even made them ill, were put there by these mischievous creatures. In fact these impurities were a silver-white metallic element, which was named kobalt after a Middle High German variant of kobold (the miners’ sickness was probably caused by the arsenic with which it occurred).
filter: filter: [14] Ultimately, filter is the same word as felt – and indeed that is what it first meant in English (‘They dwell all in tents made of black filter’, John Mandeville, Travels 1400). It comes via Old French filtre from medieval Latin filtrum, which was borrowed from prehistoric West Germanic *filtiz, source of English felt. The modern sense of filter did not develop until the 17th century; it came from the use of felt for removing impurities from liquid. The derivative infiltrate dates from the 18th century. (The homophonic philtre [16] is not related; it comes ultimately from Greek phílos ‘beloved’.)
=> felt, infiltrate
alloy (n.): early 14c. "relative freedom of a noble metal from alloy or other impurities," from Anglo-French alai, Old French aloi, from aloiier (see alloy (v.)). Meaning " base metal alloyed with a noble metal" is from c. 1400. Modern spelling from late 17c.
feculent (adj.): "muddy, turbid, full of dregs or impurities," late 15c., from Middle French féculent, from Latin faeculentus "abounding in dregs," from stem faec- "sediment, dregs" (see feces) + adjective suffix -ulentus "full of." Related: Feculence.
filter (n.): early 15c., "piece of felt through which liquid is strained," from Old French feutre "felt, felt hat, carpet" (Modern French filtre) and directly from Medieval Latin filtrum "felt" (used to strain impurities from liquid), from West Germanic *filtiz (see felt (n.)). Figurative use from c. 1600. As a pad of absorbent material attached to a cigarette, from 1908.
fine (adj.): mid-13c., "unblemished, refined, pure, free of impurities," also "of high quality, choice," from Old French fin "perfected, of highest quality" (12c.), a back-formation from finire or else from Latin finis "that which divides, a boundary, limit, border, end" (see finish (v.)); hence "acme, peak, height," as in finis boni "the highest good." The English word is from c. 1300 as "rich, valuable, costly;" also in a moral sense "true, genuine; faithful, constant." From late 14c. as "expertly fashioned, well or skillfully made," also, of cloth, "delicately wrought." Of weapons or edges, "sharp" from c. 1400. In reference to quality of gold and silver, late 15c.

In French, the main meaning remains "delicate, intricately skillful;" in English since c. 1300 fine has been also a general broad expression of admiration or approval, the equivalent of French beau (as in fine arts, 1767, translating French beaux-arts). Related: Finer; finest. Fine print is from 1861 as "type small and close-set;" by 1934 in the extended sense "qualifications and limitations of a deal."
impurity (n.): mid-15c., "thing which makes or is impure;" c. 1500, "fact or quality of being impure," from Middle French impurité, from impur (see impure). Related: Impurities.
rinse (v.): c. 1300 "subject to light washing; wash with water only" (mid-13c. in surname Rinsfet), from Old French reincier (transitive) "to wash, cleanse" (12c., Modern French rincer), probably dissimilated from recincier, from Vulgar Latin *recentiare "to make fresh, to wash, cleanse with water," from Late Latin recentare "to make fresh," from Latin recens "new, fresh" (see recent). OED says similarity in form and sense with Old Norse hreinsa is "prob[ably] accidental." Meaning "wash a second time to remove remaining impurities, soap, etc." is from 1520s. Related: Rinsed; rinsing.
sand-trap (n.): 1838, "device for filtering out impurities," from sand (n.) + trap (n.). As "a golf bunker" from 1906.
torrefy: "Roast, scorch, or dry (a substance such as an ore, a drug, or a fuel) with heat to drive off all moisture or impurities", Early 17th century: from French torréfier, from Latin torrefacere 'dry by heat', from torrere 'parch, scorch'.
depuration: "The action or process of freeing something of impurities", Early 17th century: from Latin depuratio(n-), from the verb depurare, from de- 'completely' + purare 'purify' (from purus 'pure').
abstersive: "Having the quality of cleansing, scouring, or washing away impurities; that purges", Late Middle English; earliest use found in Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie. As adjective from Middle French abstersif, adjective (French abstersif; 1314 in Old French) and its etymon post-classical Latin abstersivus from classical Latin absters-, past participial stem of abstergēre + -īvus. As noun partly from Middle French abstersif, noun and partly from post-classical Latin abstersiva, use as noun of neuter plural of abstersivus. Compare Spanish abstersivo, Portuguese abstersivo.