Chile #
Illustration of Capsicum annuum L. from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887)
Chile (Capsicum annuum L.) is a culinary spice from the Solanaceae family,1 originating in the region(s) of Central America.2 It is used for its fruit, primarily for flavors; analgesic. Its aroma is described as pungent, fiery, with a heat index of 4-10.3
| English | Arabic | Chinese | Hungarian |
|---|---|---|---|
| chile | فلفل حار | 辣椒 | paprika |
Overview #
| id | chile |
|---|---|
| species name | Capsicum annuum L. |
| family | Solanaceae |
| part used | fruit |
| macroarea | Americas |
| region of origin | Central America |
| cultivation | Ethiopia; India; Kenya; Mexico; Nigeria; Pakistan; Tanzania; etc. |
| color | red and green in many shades |
| botanical database | POWO |
Etymologies #
English chilli ‘chili pepper’, 1662 < Spanish chile ‘chili pepper’, 1571 < Classical Nahuatl chīlli ‘chili plant’
Arabic فلفل حار fulful ḥārr ‘chili pepper’ [hot pepper ]
Mandarin Chinese 辣椒 làjiāo ‘chili pepper’ [pungent-pepper ]
English paprika < Hungarian paprika, diminutive? < Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian paprika ’little pepper’, (papar+ika) papar = pepper; -ika = Suffix appended to words to create a feminine noun, usually denoting a plant. < Slavic *pьpьrь * pĭpĭrĭ < Latin piper < Ancient Greek πέπερι péperi < Pahlavi ? < Middle Indo-Aryan pipparī < Sanskrit pippalī
Names #
English #
| term | source |
|---|---|
| chili | OED |
| bird chili | Van Wyk, 2014 |
| bird pepper | OED |
| Cayenne pepper | OED |
| cherry-pepper | OED |
| chili pepper | OED |
| green pepper | OED |
| hot pepper | Van Wyk, 2014 |
| paprika pepper | OED |
| red pepper | OED |
| Tabasco pepper | Van Wyk, 2014 |
| piri piri | Van Wyk, 2014 |
| paprika | OED |
| pepper | OED |
| Guinea pepper | OED |
| Indian pepper | OED |
| bell-pepper | OED |
| pod pepper | OED |
| sweet pepper | OED |
| capsicum | OED |
Arabic #
| script | term | literal | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| فلفل حار | fulful ḥārr | hot pepper | Baalbaki, 1995 |
| فلفل أحمر | fulful aḥmar | red pepper | Baalbaki, 1995 |
| فلفل أخضر | fulful akhḍar | green pepper | Wehr, 1976 |
| حار | ḥārr | heat | Baalbaki, 1995 |
| حريف | ḥirrīf | pungent; acrid (taste) | Baalbaki, 1995 |
| شطة، شطيطة | shaṭṭa, shaṭīṭa | Wehr, 1976 | |
| فلفل | fulful, filfil | Wehr, 1976 | |
| بابريكا | bābrīkā | paprika | Wikipedia |
| فلفل حلو | fulful ḥulw | sweet pepper | Baalbaki, 1995 |
| فليفلة | fulayfila | little pepper | Wehr, 1976 |
Chinese #
| script | term | literal | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 辣椒 | làjiāo | pungent-pepper | Defrancis, 2003 |
| 番薑 | fānjiāng | foreign-ginger | Dott, 2020 |
| 海椒 | hǎijiāo | sea-pepper | |
| 紅椒 | hóngjiāo | red-pepper | Defrancis, 2003 |
| 紅辣椒 | hónglàjiāo | red-pungent-pepper | |
| 紅甜椒粉 | hóngtiánjiāofěn | red-sweet-pepper-powder | |
| 辣胡椒 | làhújiāo | pungent-barbarian-pepper | MDBG |
| 辣茄 | làqié | spicy-eggplant | Dott, 2020 |
| 秦椒 | qínjiāo | Qin-pepper | MDBG |
| 青椒 | qīngjiāo | green-pepper | Defrancis, 2003 |
| 甜辣椒 | tiánlàjiāo | sweet-pungent-pepper | Defrancis, 2003 |
| 辣子 | làzi | spiciness | Defrancis, 2003 |
| 番椒 | fānjiāo | foreign-pepper | Dott, 2020 |
| 柿子椒 | shìzijiāo | persimmon-ZI-pepper | MDBG |
POWO. (2022). Plants of the World Online (Botanical Database). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ ↩︎
van Wyk, B.-E. (2014). Culinary Herbs and Spices of the World. University of Chicago Press, joint publication with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226091839.001.0001 ↩︎
Medicinal Spices Exhibit. (2002). UCLA Biomedical Library: History & Special Collections. https://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?spicefilename=taste.txt&itemsuppress=yes&displayswitch=0 ↩︎