English

Etymology

Pronunciation

• /stu:p/

Noun

1. a bucket
2. a mug or drinking vessel
3. a receptacle for holy water, especially a basin set at the entrance of a church

Quotations

• 1602 : William Shakespeare, Hamlet , act V scene 2

  Set me the stoups of wine upon that table.

• 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers

  But, though I liked Morgan well enough, I did not greatly care for his smell, which, incredibly, considering his agnosticism, was not unlike that of stale water in a church stoup.

• originally, a drinking vessel, such as a cup or tankard.
• in Scottish, a bucket or pail.
• in ecclesiastical terminology, a basin or font for holy water at the entrance of a church, hence in full holy water stoups
• erroneously attributed to television talk show host/cook Rachael Ray, a stoup is a portmanteau of "stew" and "soup" which she describes as a dish that is "thinner than a stew but thicker than a soup." The term appears to have originated with the Flying Biscuit Cafe chain of restaurants in Georgia and North Carolina -- "thinner than stew but thicker than soup".