Added 9 October 2026

cup

/ˈkʌp/ symbol

In Latin: cantharus, pōculum, calix Wiktionary

symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cup at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A concave vessel for drinking, usually made of opaque material (as opposed to a glass) and with a handle.
Pour the tea into the cup.
The contents of said vessel.
I drank two cups of water but still felt thirsty.
A customary unit of measure A US unit of liquid measure equal to 8 fluid ounces (⁄16 of a US gallon; 236.5882365 mL) or 240 mL. A Canadian unit of measure equal to 8 imperial ounces (⁄20 imperial gallon; 227.3 mL) or 250 mL. A British unit of measure equal to ⁄2 imperial pint (10 imperial ounces; 284 mL) or 300 mL. A metric unit of measure equal to 250 mL.

To form into the shape of a cup, particularly of the hands.
Cup your hands and I'll pour some rice into them.
To hold something in cupped hands.
He cupped the ball carefully in his hands.
To pour (a liquid, drink, etc.) into a cup.
We are cupping some new brands of coffee today.

Inherited from Middle English cuppe, coppe, from the merger of Old English cuppe (“cup”) and Old English copp (“cup, vessel”). Old English cuppe is a borrowing from Late Latin cuppa, itself of obscure origin, but probably from earlier Latin cūpa (“tub, cask”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“a hollow”). Old English copp, however, is from Proto-West Germanic *kopp (“round object, bowl, vessel, knoll, summit, crown of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”) (whence also obsolete English cop (“top, summit, crown of the head”), German Kopf (“top, head”)).