cup
/ˈkʌp/noun, verb
cup is spelled C-U-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 129 times per million words in written English, the 810th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cup means “A concave vessel for drinking, usually made of opaque material (as opposed to a glass) and with a handle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cup is cups.
How many letters and syllables are in cup?
| Letters | 3: C-U-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 129 times per million words; the 810th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cup?
Cup appears 129 times per million words in written English, the 810th 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 cup?
- US /ˈkʌp/
- Australia /ˈkɐp/
- Australia [ˈkɐ̞p]
Cup has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-a_cup.ogg, En-us-cup.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cup.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cup?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cup from its last stressed vowel (/ʌp/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cup
- cups plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cupping participle, present
- cupped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cup mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
The contents of said vessel.
I drank two cups of water but still felt thirsty.
- 3
USA US unit of liquid measure equal to 8 fluid ounces (¹⁄₁₆ of a US gallon; 236.5882365 mL) or 240 mL.
- 4
CanadaA Canadian unit of measure equal to 8 imperial ounces (¹⁄₂₀ imperial gallon; 227.3 mL) or 250 mL.
- 5
UKdatedA British unit of measure equal to ¹⁄₂ imperial pint (10 imperial ounces; 284 mL) or 300 mL.
- 6
AustraliaA metric unit of measure equal to 250 mL.
- 7
A trophy in the shape of an oversized cup.
The World Cup is awarded to the winner of a quadrennial football tournament.
- 8
A contest for which a cup is awarded.
The World Cup is the world's most widely watched sporting event.
verb
- 1
To form into the shape of a cup, particularly of the hands.
Cup your hands and I'll pour some rice into them.
- 2
To hold something in cupped hands.
He cupped the ball carefully in his hands.
- 3
To pour (a liquid, drink, etc.) into a cup.
We are cupping some new brands of coffee today.
- 4
obsoleteTo supply with cups of wine.
- 5
archaicTo apply a cup or cupping apparatus to; to subject to the operation of cupping.
- 6
To make concave or in the form of a cup.
to cup the end of a screw
noun
- 1
informalA win of a championship that is awarded a cup.
- 2
informalA win of an event comprising part of the championship, which is awarded a cup
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cup in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tasse, coupe , coquille , Coupe |
| German | Tasse , Suspensorium , Pokal , Meisterschaft , die Hand aufhalten |
| Portuguese | xícara, chávena, copo , taça |
| Spanish | taza, vaso , coquilla , Copa , copa |
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 cup come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).