Often the shortest words have the most complex histories, as is the case with cup. In origin, cup can be traced back to an Indo-European word pronounced something like kaup and meaning round container. In Sanskrit, kaup became kupas, meaning hole, while in Greek it became kupe, meaning ship, and in Latin it became cupa, meaning cask. The Indo-European kaup is also the ultimate source of the German word kopf, meaning head, and—thanks to a zillion tiny shifts in pronunciation—it is even the ultimate source of the English words head and hive, both of which are round containers with things buzzing around inside. The Latin derivative, cupa, also gave rise to a number of linguistic offspring. First, the Latin cupa, meaning cask, became the Late Latin cuppa, meaning cup; it was this word that developed into the Old English cuppe, first recorded a thousand years ago, which in turn became the modern cup. Second, the Latin word cupa also developed into the Middle English word cowpe, meaning a basket in which chickens are kept; this Middle English cowpe developed into the Modern English coop, meaning a building for chickens. Third, the Latin word cupa also gave rise, through German, to cooper, the name of the person who makes casks. And finally, the Latin cupa developed through Italian into a kind of grand, architectural cup: cupola, the dome of a building.
In mushrooms, a cup-like remnant of the universal veil found at the stem base (also called Volva).
A warm-weather beverage that is typically concocted by blending red or light white wine with ice or soda water, along with sprigs of herbs, fruit, and other flavorings.