mug

The word surfaces in early 16th-century Scots and northern English meaning "earthenware, pot, jug," but its ultimate origin is unknown. It may come from North Germanic words like Swedish mugg or Norwegian mugge, or from Low German and Dutch forms like mokke and mok — themselves also of unclear origin.

It began as a term for pottery vessels in general before narrowing to the drinking cup we know today. Separately, in modern informal English, "mug" also serves as a softened stand-in for "motherfucker."

It's been tentatively linked to Old English muga ("stack") and Old Norse múgr ("mass, heap of corn"), and there's a curious old Middle English use of mug or mog as a measure of salt.