peppercorn

English

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peppercorn^¹

/ˈpɛpəkɔːn/ UK
/ˈpɛpɚkɔɹn/ US

Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)n

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English peper corn, peper-corn, pepercorn, from Old English piporcorn (“peppercorn”), corresponding to pepper + corn. Compare Dutch peperkorrel (“peppercorn”), German Pfefferkorn (“peppercorn”), Danish peberkorn (“peppercorn”), Swedish pepparkorn (“peppercorn”), Icelandic piparkorn (“peppercorn”).

noun peppercorns

The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.
A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot. A 75 ¢ book must look 40 ¢ better to the distributor and wholesaler, because if one peppercorn of doubt that people will pay 75 ¢ for the book gets thrown into the distribution mill, the books may never leave their cartons […]
attributive A nominal consideration used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. peppercorn rent

Peppercorn^²

proper noun

A surname.

Translations

Every language

noun the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum

中文	胡椒子 hújiāozǐ, 胡椒粒 hújiāolì
हिन्दी	गोलमिर्च golmirc
Français	grain de poivre
Deutsch	Pfefferkorn
Italiano	grano di pepe
Ελληνικά	πιπερόκοκκος piperókokkos
Română	boabă de piper
Русский	перец perets

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{peppercorn_2026,
  title = {peppercorn},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/peppercorn},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}