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.
The US fluid ounce is a unit of volume in the US customary unit system with the symbol fl oz.
Primarily used for measuring the volume or capacity of liquids, 1 US fluid ounce is equal to 29.57353 ml. It is also equal to 1.040843 imperial fluid ounces.
1 US fluid ounce is equal to 1/16 imperial pint, 1/32 imperial quart and 1/128 imperial gallon.
The fluid ounce was originally defined by the volume taken up by one ounce of a substance. Of course this would be different depending on the density of that substance; for example England used wine whereas Scotland used water to establish this measure.
The US fluid ounce is derived from the US gallon; which was originally based on the English wine gallon (231 cubic inches).