CRATER, CUP, in Astronomy, a constellation of the southern hemisphere, the stars of which, in Ptolemy's catalogue, are seven; in Tycho's, eight; in Hevelius's, ten; in the Britannic catalogue, thirty-one.
CRATER is also used to signify the mouth or opening of a volcano or burning mountain, whence the flame, smoke, scoriae, and lava, are discharged. See VOLCANO.