Etymograph

English

pepper

Pepper comes from Middle English peper, and goes back to Ancient Greek πέπερι.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέπεριpéperi
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiper
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*piparreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150piper
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peper
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595pepper

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέπεριpéperi
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiper
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*piparreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150piper
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peper
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595pepper

Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Rom. Courage man, the hurt cannot be much. Mer.…”

The story

The name was given to the capsicum fruit because of its unusual spicy taste, not unlike the Old World spice.

Linked words

through Latin piper

paprika, pimpernel, 8 more

Today it means

noun A plant of the family Piperaceae.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek πέπερι / pepper

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