Thecup is acooking measure ofvolume, commonly associated with cooking andserving sizes. In the US, it is traditionally equal to one-half US pint (236.6 ml). Because actual drinkingcups may differ greatly from the size of this unit, standardmeasuring cups may be used, with a metric cup commonly being rounded up to 240millilitres (legal cup), but 250 ml is also used depending on the measuring scale.

cup
A simple plasticmeasuring cup, capable of holding the volume onemetric cup with a scale for US fluid ounces
General information
Unit system	US customary units
Unit of	Volume
Symbol	cup
Conversions (US)
1 US cupin ...	... is equal to ...
SI units	236.588 mL

In the United States, the customary cup is half of aUS liquid pint.

The cup currently used in the United States for nutrition labelling is defined in United States law as 240 ml.^[1][2][3]

The following information is describing that how to measure US legal cup in different ways.^[4]

A "cup" of coffee in the US is usually 4 fluid ounces (118 ml), brewed using 5 fluid ounces (148 ml) of water. Coffee carafes used with drip coffee makers, e.g. Black and Decker models, have markings for both water and brewed coffee as the carafe is also used for measuring water prior to brewing.^[5] A 12-cup carafe, for example, has markings for 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 cups of water or coffee, which correspond to 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 US fluid ounces (0.59, 0.89, 1.18, 1.48, and 1.77 litres) of water or 16, 24, 32, 40, and 48 US fluid ounces (0.47, 0.71, 0.95, 1.18, and 1.42 litres) of brewed coffee respectively, the difference being the volume absorbed by the coffee grounds and lost to evaporation during brewing.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and some other members of theCommonwealth of Nations, being formerBritish colonies that have sincemetricated, employ a "metric cup" of 250 millilitres.^[6] Although derived from themetric system, it is not anSI unit.^[7]

A "coffee cup" is 1.5 dL (i.e. 150 millilitres or 5.07 US customary fluid ounces), and is occasionally used in recipes; in older recipes, cup may mean "coffee cup". It is also used in the US to specify coffeemaker sizes (what can be referred to as aTasse à café). A "12-cup" US coffeemaker makes 57.6 US customary fluid ounces of coffee, which is equal to 6.8 metric cups of coffee.

Canada now usually employs the metric cup of 250 ml, but its conventional cup was somewhat smaller than both American and imperial units.^[8]

1 Canadian cup = 8 imperial fluid ounces =⁠1/20⁠ imperial gallon =227.3045 ml

               =4⁄5 UK tumbler = 1 UK breakfast cup = 11⁄3 UK cups = 13⁄5 UK teacups = 31⁄5 UK coffee cups = 4 UK wine glasses

               ≈ 0.96 US customary cup

               ≈ 0.91 metric cup

1 Canadian tablespoon =1⁄2 imperial fluid ounce (14.2065 ml)

                      = 1 UK tablespoon

                      ≈ 0.96 US customary tablespoon

                      ≈ 0.95 international metric tablespoon ≈ 0.71 Australian metric tablespoon

1 Canadian teaspoon =1⁄6 imperial fluid ounce (4.7355 ml)

                     = 11⁄3 UK teaspoons

                     ≈ 0.96 US customary teaspoon

                     ≈ 0.95 metric teaspoon

In the United Kingdom, 1 cup is traditionally 6imperial fluid ounces.^[9] The unit is named after a typical drinking cup.

There are three related British culinary measurement units of volume bearing names with the word, ‘cup’: thebreakfast cup (8 imperial fluid ounces),^[10][11] theteacup (5 imperial fluid ounces),^[10] and thecoffee cup (2⁠1/2⁠ imperial fluid ounces).^[10]

Further, there are two related British culinary measurement units of volume without the word, ‘cup’, in their names: thetumbler (10 imperial fluid ounces)^[9][12] and thewine glass (2 imperial fluid ounces).^[9][13]

All six units are the traditional British equivalents of the US customary cup and the metric cup, used in situations where a US cook would use the US customary cup and a cook using metric units the metric cup. The breakfast cup is the most similar in size to the US customary cup and the metric cup. Which of these six units is used depends on the quantity or volume of the ingredient: there is division of labour between these six units, like the tablespoon and the teaspoon. British cookery books and recipes, especially those from the days beforethe UK's partial metrication, commonly use two or more of the aforesaid units simultaneously: for example, the same recipe may call for a ‘tumblerful’ of one ingredient and a ‘wineglassful’ of another one; or a ‘breakfastcupful’ or ‘cupful’ of one ingredient, a ‘teacupful’ of a second one, and a ‘coffeecupful’ of a third one. Unlike the US customary cup and the metric cup, a tumbler, a breakfast cup, a cup, a teacup, a coffee cup, and a wine glass are not measuring cups: they are simply everyday drinking vessels commonly found in British households and typically having the respective aforementioned capacities; due to long‑term and widespread use, they have been transformed into measurement units for cooking. There is not aBritish imperial unit⁠–⁠based culinary measuring cup.

Similar units in other languages and cultures are sometimes translated "cup", usually with various values around1⁄5 to1⁄4 of a litre.

In Latin America, the amount of a "cup" (Spanish:taza) varies from country to country, using a cup of 200 ml (about 7.04 British imperial fluid ounces or 6.76 US customary fluid ounces), 250 ml (about 8.80 British imperial fluid ounces or 8.45 US customary fluid ounces), and the US legal or customary amount.

The traditionalJapanese unit equated with a "cup" size is thegō, legally equated with⁠2,401/13,310⁠ litre (≈ 180.4 ml/6.35 British imperial fluid ounces/6.1 US customary fluid ounces) in 1891, and is still used for reckoning amounts of rice andsake. The Japanese later defined a "cup" as 200 ml.

The traditional Russian measurement system included two cup sizes: the "charka" (cup proper) and the "stakan" ("glass"). The charka was usually used for alcoholic drinks and is 123mL (about 4.33 British imperial fluid ounces or 4.16 US customary fluid ounces), while the stakan, used for other liquids, was twice as big and is 246mL (about 8.66 British imperial fluid ounces or 8.32 US customary fluid ounces).

Since metrication, the charka was informally redefined as 100 ml (about 3.52 British imperial fluid ounces or 3.38 US customary fluid ounces), acquiring a new name of "stopka" (related to the traditional Russian measurement unit "stopa"^{[citation needed]}), while there are currently two widely used glass sizes of 250mL (about 8.80 British imperial fluid ounces or 8.45 US customary fluid ounces) and 200 ml (about 7.04 British imperial fluid ounces or 6.76 US customary fluid ounces).

In The Netherlands, traditionally a "cup" (Dutch:kopje) amounts to 150 ml (about 5.28 British imperial fluid ounces or 5.07 US customary fluid ounces). However, in modern recipes, the US legal cup of 240 ml (about 8.45 British imperial fluid ounces or 8.12 US customary fluid ounces) is more commonly used.

In Europe, recipes normally weigh non-liquid ingredients ingrams rather than measuring volume. For example, where an American recipe might specify "1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of milk", a European recipe might specify "200 g sugar and 500 ml of milk". A precise conversion between the two measures takes into account the density of the ingredients, and some recipes specify both weight and volume to facilitate this conversion. Many European measuring cups have markings that indicate the weight of common ingredients for a given volume.

• Cooking weights and measures