Modii to US Cups (modius to cup)
1 modius equals 36.91364145 US cups (rounded).
How to convert modii to US cups
To convert modii to US cups, multiply the number of modii by 36.91364145. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply US cups by 0.02709025609 (rounded).
US cups = modii × 36.91364145
Example: 10 modii = 369.1364145 US cups.
Pints, quarts, gallons and fluid ounces differ between the US and the UK. Units are labeled 'US' or 'imperial' to avoid confusion.
Approximate value. Standards for the modius varied by place and period, so this converter uses the most commonly cited value. Treat results as estimates, not exact figures.
About these units
Modius (modius)
Sixteen sextarii, about 8.73 L. The standard Roman dry measure, used for grain.
Grain, not wine, was what the modius measured. It belonged to the Roman dry scale, where it stood at the top of the ordinary series, with the semimodius at half its size and the larger modius castrensis, about 12.93 L, above it. Wikipedia's table gives the plain modius as 8.73 L, the figure used here, and describes it as 2 and two thirds congii or 16 sextarii.
That puts it at one third of an amphora quadrantal, so liquid and dry measures shared a single system built on the cubic Roman foot. Because it is a multiple of the sextarius, the usual uncertainty applies: surviving vessels suggest the sextarius ranged from 500 to 580 mL, which would put the modius between roughly 8.0 and 9.3 L. A bronze modius stamped with a reference to imperial regulation of weights and measures survives, which shows that the state tried to keep the size fixed. Today it is a little under a quarter of a US bushel.
1 modius = 8.733333333 liters (approximately).
Sources: Wikipedia: Ancient Roman units of measurement
US Cup (cup)
One sixteenth of a US gallon, 236.588 mL (8 US fluid ounces). The standard US recipe cup.
Cups began as household drinking vessels, not scientific units, which is why they remain the messiest measures in the kitchen. The US customary cup was defined by slicing up the gallon: half a pint, or eight US fluid ounces, about 236.6 milliliters. Unlike the larger units, nobody ever fixed it to a physical vessel, so it exists only as a fraction of the gallon.
The customary cup is not the only American cup. For nutrition labels, US regulation defines a cup as exactly 240 milliliters, a rounder figure that sits slightly above the customary size. Packaged foods therefore list a serving in the legal cup while a measuring cup from the hardware store follows the customary definition. The gap is 3.4 milliliters, which hardly matters for soup but can matter in baking. Cup measures also hide the weight of dry ingredients, since a cup of sifted flour and a cup of packed flour differ substantially, which is why much of the world prefers grams.
1 US cup = 0.2365882365 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Cup (unit); NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume; 21 CFR 101.9: nutrition labeling household measures
Related conversions
- US cups to modii (reverse)
- Modii to liters
- Modii to milliliters
- Modii to US gallons
- Modii to US fluid ounces
- Liters to US cups
- Milliliters to US cups
- US gallons to US cups
- US fluid ounces to US cups
- Cubic meters to US cups
- Cubic centimeters to US cups
- US quarts to US cups
- US pints to US cups
- US tablespoons to US cups
- US teaspoons to US cups
- Metric cups to US cups
- Metric tablespoons to US cups
See all volume units.