Pepper Meaning
/ˈpɛp.ə/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA plant of the family Piperaceae.
nounA spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe berries of this plant.
Sentence Examples
I seasoned the fish with salt and pepper.
Pass me the salt and pepper, please.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
She sprinkled some ground black ____ over the pasta to enhance the taste.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She ground fresh black ____ over the pasta and added a generous handful of grated cheese.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English peper, piper, from Old English piper, from Proto-West Germanic *pipar, 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 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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He means to snatch the laurels from his brow, / At all his boasted pluck and prowess smile, / And give him pepper in superior style."
— 1906, Henry Downes Miles, Pugilistica, page 61:
"[T]he Chicken had been tapped, and bunged, and had received pepper, and had been made groggy, and had come up piping, and had endured a complication of similar strange inconveniences, until he had been gone into and finished."
— 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
"Chew beef like breakfast (Yum)
Two shanks, get 'round in seconds (Two)
Be feeding my area, peppers"
— 2017 January 17, “Kennington Where It Started”, Biz of Harlem Spartans (lyrics), 0:28:
"Number plates already hot, and plus we've got like three peppers"
— 2023 June 18, “100mph Freestyle x3”, Clavish (lyrics), 3:24:
"I am pepperd for this world, I am sped yfaith, he hath made wormes meate of me"
— c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She sprinkled some ground black ____ over the pasta to enhance the taste.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She ground fresh black ____ over the pasta and added a generous handful of grated cheese.