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pepper

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pepper¹

  • /ˈpɛp.ə/ UK
  • [ˈpʰɛp.ə] UK
  • /ˈpɛp.ɚ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈpʰɛp.ɚ] Canada, US
  • [ˈpʰɛp.ɹ̩] Canada, US

Rhymes with -ɛpə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English peper, piper, from Old English piper, from Proto-West Germanic *pipar, from Latin piper, from Ancient Greek πέπερι (péperi), from an Indo-Aryan source; compare Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippali, “long pepper”), ultimately from Dravidian; compare Tamil திப்பலி (tippali). The name was given to the capsicum fruit because of its unusual spicy taste, not unlike the Old World spice. Cognate with Scots pepar, Saterland Frisian Pieper, West Frisian piper, Dutch peper, German Low German Peper, German Pfeffer, Danish peber, Norwegian Bokmål pepper, Norwegian Nynorsk pepar, Swedish peppar, Icelandic pipar. Doublet of falafel and peepul.

noun peppers · piper

  1. countable, uncountable A plant of the family Piperaceae.
  2. uncountable A spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe berries of this plant.
  3. Canada, Ireland, UK, US, countable, uncountable A fruit of the capsicum plant: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in a wide range of mild (sweet, nonspicy) to hot (spicy) varieties.

    Similar: capsicum

  4. countable, uncountable A game used by baseball players to warm up where fielders standing close to a batter rapidly return the batted ball to be hit again Some ballparks have signs saying "No pepper games".
  5. countable, uncountable A randomly-generated value that is added to another value (such as a password) prior to hashing. Unlike a salt, a new one is generated for each value and it is held separately from the value.
  6. countable, slang, uncountable A beating; a thrashing. He means to snatch the laurels from his brow, / At all his boasted pluck and prowess smile, / And give him pepper in superior style.
  7. Multicultural London English, countable, slang, uncountable A shotgun. Chew beef like breakfast (Yum) Two shanks, get 'round in seconds (Two) Be feeding my area, peppers

verb peppers · peppering · peppered · piper

  1. transitive To add pepper to.
  2. transitive To strike with something made up of small particles.
  3. transitive To cover with lots of (something made up of small things). After the hailstorm, the beach was peppered with holes.
  4. transitive To add (something) at frequent intervals. He liked to pepper long words throughout his conversation.
  5. slang, transitive To beat or thrash. Rom. Courage man, the hurt cannot be much. Mer. No: 'tis not ſo deepe as a well, nor ſo wide as a Church doore, but 'tis inough, 'twill ſerue : aske for me to morrow, and you ſhall find me a graue man. I am pepper'd I warrant, for this world: a plague a both your houſes.
  6. To use a pepper (type of value used prior to hashing).
  7. Multicultural London English, slang, transitive To shoot (upon) with the dotty.
  8. slang, transitive To write accents or disambiguating marks in script.

Pepper²

proper noun Peppers

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a seller of pepper.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: black pepper, peppercorn, white pepper, capsicum, pelt, common pepper, madagascar pepper, piper nigrum, spice, chili, cayenne, chilli, pepperoni, spicy, seasoning, bunny

Translations

Every language

noun plant

Españolpimentero
日本語胡椒 koshō
中文胡椒 hújiāo
हिन्दीमिर्च mirc
Kiswahilimpilipili
Portuguêspimenta, pimenteiro
Françaispoivrier
DeutschPfeffer, Pfefferstrauch
Italianopeperone
Ελληνικάπιπεριά piperiá
Românăpiper
Русскийпе́рец pérec
Tiếng Việttiêu
العربيةفِلْفِل filfil, فُلْفُل fulful
עבריתפִּלְפֵּל pilpél, פִּלְפֶּלֶת pilpélet

noun spice

Españolpimienta
한국어고추 gochu, 후추 huchu
日本語胡椒 koshō
中文胡椒 hújiāo
हिन्दीमिर्च mirc
Kiswahilipilipili manga
Portuguêspimenta
Françaispoivre
DeutschPfeffer
Italianopepe
Ελληνικάπιπέρι pipéri
Românăpiper
Русскийпе́рец pérec, чёрный пе́рец čórnyj pérec
Tiếng Việttiêu
العربيةفِلْفِل filfil, فُلْفُل fulful
עבריתפִּלְפֵּל pilpél, פִּלְפֵּל שָׁחֹר, פלפל שחור pilpél shakhor

noun fruit of the capsicum

Españolpimiento, chile, ají
中文菜椒 càijiāo
हिन्दीमिर्च mirc
Kiswahilipilipili hoho
Portuguêspimento, pimentão
Françaispiment, poivron
DeutschChili, Paprika, Paprikaschote
Italianopeperoncino, peperone
Ελληνικάπιπεριά piperiá
Românăardei
Русскийпе́рец pérec
עבריתפִּלְפֵּל pilpél, פִּלְפֶּלֶת pilpélet

verb add pepper to

Portuguêsapimentar
Françaispoivrer, assaisonner de poivre
Deutschpfeffern
Italianopepare, condire con pepe
Ελληνικάπιπερώνω piperóno
Românăpipera
Русскийперчи́ть perčítʹ, поперчи́ть poperčítʹ

verb strike with small particles

Españolacribillar
Portuguêssalpicar

verb cover with lots of small things

Portuguêssalpicar
Françaisrecouvrir

verb add at frequent intervals

Françaisponctuer

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"pepper." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pepper. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

pepper. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pepper

Chicago

"pepper." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pepper.

BibTeX
@misc{pepper_2026,
  title = {pepper},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pepper},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}