コップ

If コップ seems like Japanese simply clipped English “cup,” surprise — this drinking word is usually poured from Dutch. コップ means a cup or simple drinking glass. Japanese sources commonly trace it to Dutch kop, a word connected with a cup or drinking vessel. The meaning is close enough that the story feels almost too easy: a vessel for drinking becomes a Japanese word for a vessel for drinking. The surprise is not the meaning. It is the route. Like コーヒー and ガラス, コップ belongs to the Dutch-contact layer of Japanese vocabulary. During the Edo period, Dutch trade through Nagasaki and the wider world of 蘭学 helped carry European terms into Japanese. Some were technical or scientific. Others were everyday and concrete. A cup is about as concrete as it gets. Here is the learner trap: Japanese also has カップ, which really does look and feel closer to modern English “cup” and is common in words like カップケーキ or ワールドカップ. コップ, however, is the older everyday word many people use for a simple drinking vessel. So Japanese can keep both: コップ and カップ, similar meanings, different histories and usage patterns. That is exactly what makes loanwords interesting. They do not arrive once and replace everything neatly. They pile up in layers. One word enters through Dutch contact. Another later word enters through English. Japanese speakers then sort them by habit, context, and nuance. For learners, コップ is short, useful, and deceptively deep. You may only be asking for water, but the word in your sentence has crossed centuries. And if a cup can hide that much history, imagine what the rest of the kitchen is doing.