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Webster 1913 Edition

Pepper

Pep′per

(pĕp′pẽr)
,
Noun.
[OE.
peper
, AS.
pipor
, L.
piper
, fr. Gr.
πέπερι
,
πίπερι
, akin to Skr.
pippala
,
pippali
.]
1.
A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the
Piper nigrum
.
☞
Common pepper
, or
black pepper
, is made from the whole berry, dried just before maturity;
white pepper
is made from the ripe berry after the outer skin has been removed by maceration and friction. It has less of the peculiar properties of the plant than the black pepper. Pepper is used in medicine as a carminative stimulant.
2.
(Bot.)
The plant which yields pepper, an East Indian woody climber (
Piper nigrum
), with ovate leaves and apetalous flowers in spikes opposite the leaves. The berries are red when ripe. Also, by extension, any one of the several hundred species of the genus
Piper
, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth.
☞ The term pepper has been extended to various other fruits and plants, more or less closely resembling the true pepper, esp. to the common varieties of
Capsicum
. See
Capsicum
, and the Phrases, below.
African pepper
,
the Guinea pepper. See under
Guinea
.
–
Cayenne pepper
.
See under
Cayenne
.
–
Chinese pepper
,
the spicy berries of the
Xanthoxylum piperitum
, a species of prickly ash found in China and Japan.
–
Guinea pepper
.
See under
Guinea
, and
Capsicum
.
–
Jamaica pepper
.
See
Allspice
.
–
Long pepper
.
(a)
The spike of berries of
Piper longum
, an East Indian shrub
.
(b)
The root of
Piper methysticum
(syn.
Macropiper methysticum
) of the family
Piperaceae
. See
Kava
.
–
Malaguetta pepper
, or
Meleguetta pepper
,
the aromatic seeds of the
Amomum Melegueta
, an African plant of the Ginger family. They are sometimes used to flavor beer, etc., under the name of
grains of Paradise
.
–
Red pepper
.
See
Capsicum
.
–
Sweet pepper bush
(Bot.)
,
an American shrub (
Clethra alnifolia
), with racemes of fragrant white flowers; – called also
white alder
.
–
Pepper box
or
Pepper caster
,
a small box or bottle, with a perforated lid, used for sprinkling ground pepper on food, etc.
–
Pepper corn
.
See in the Vocabulary.
–
Pepper elder
(Bot.)
,
a West Indian name of several plants of the Pepper family, species of
Piper
and
Peperomia
.
–
Pepper moth
(Zool.)
,
a European moth (
Biston betularia
) having white wings covered with small black specks.
–
Pepper pot
,
a mucilaginous soup or stew of vegetables and cassareep, much esteemed in the West Indies.
–
Pepper root
.
(Bot.)
.
See
Coralwort
.
–
pepper sauce
,
a condiment for the table, made of small red peppers steeped in vinegar.
–
Pepper tree
(Bot.)
,
an aromatic tree (
Drimys axillaris
) of the Magnolia family, common in New Zealand. See
Peruvian mastic tree
, under
Mastic
.

Pep′per

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Peppered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Peppering
.]
1.
To sprinkle or season with pepper.
2.
Figuratively: To shower shot or other missiles, or blows, upon; to pelt; to fill with shot, or cover with bruises or wounds;
as, to
pepper
him with buckshot
.
“I have peppered two of them.” “I am peppered, I warrant, for this world.”
Shak.

Pep′per

,
Verb.
I.
To fire numerous shots (at).

Webster 1828 Edition

Pepper

PEP'PER

,
Noun.
[L. piper.] A plant and its seed or grain, of the genus Piper. The stem of the plant is a vine requiring a prop, which is usually a tree. The leaves are oval and the flower white. We have three kinds of pepper,the black,the white, and the long. The black pepper is the produce of Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, and other Asiatic countries; The white pepper is the black pepper decorticated; the long pepper is the fruit of a different species, also from the E. Indies. It consists of numerous grains attached to a common footstalk. Pepper has a strong aromatic smell and a pungent taste.

PEP'PER

,
Verb.
T.
To sprinkle with pepper.
1.
To beat; to pelt with shot; to mangle with blows.

Definition 2024

pepper

pepper

English

Peppercorns (2).
Peppers (capsicum).

Noun

pepper ‎(countable and uncountable, plural peppers)

  1. A plant of the family Piperaceae.
  2. (uncountable) A spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe berries of this plant.
  3. (Britain, Ireland and Canada) A bell pepper, a fruit of the capsicum plant: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in very spicy and mild varieties.
  4. (baseball) 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. (cryptography) 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.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

pepper ‎(third-person singular simple present peppers, present participle peppering, simple past and past participle peppered)

  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 his conversation with long words.

Translations

Related terms

See also

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse piparr

Noun

pepper m ‎(definite singular pepperen)

  1. pepper (spice)

Derived terms

See also

References

Etymology

From Old English piper, from Latin piper, from an Indo-Aryan source; compare Sanskrit पिप्पलि ‎(pippali, “long pepper”). The name was given to the capsicum fruit because of its unusual spicy taste, not unlike the European spice.

Pronunciation

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