The gallon is a unit of volume in the imperial unit system with the symbol gal.
1 British imperial gallon is defined as 4.54609 litres or 277.4194 in³.
The term gallon derives directly from the Old Northern French term 'galun' which means 'liquid measure'. The origin of the word prior to this is still unknown. It originated as the base of the system for measuring wine and beer in the UK and has now been adopted across the world and there are similar versions in the US and associated states (although they measure slightly differently).
The cup is a unit of volume in the US customary unit system with the symbol cup.
It is equal to 1/2 US customary pint, 1/4 US customary quart and 1/16 US customary gallon. it is also equal to 236.5882365 millilitres.
Used primarily for cooking - the cup was adopted and established as a recognised unit of measure as it could be used by almost anyone in any kitchen. Due to the slight variants in design and size, it is rarely used as an accurate measure for important or critical materials, however it does represent a specific amount and can be used across many recipes to indicate what is needed.