Pepper #

Illustration of Piper nigrum L. from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887)

Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is a culinary and medicinal spice from the Piperaceae family,¹ originating in the region(s) of Malabar coast (South India).² It is used for its fruit, primarily for flavors; colds. Its aroma is described as pungent, hot, with a heat index of 3-8.³

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Etymologies #

English pepper < West Germanic * pipor ‘id.’ < Latin piper ‘black pepper, long pepper’ < Ancient Greek πέπερι péperi ‘id.’ < Middle Indo-Aryan पिप्परी pipparī ’long pepper’ < Sanskrit पिप्पलि pippali ’long pepper Piper longum (plant and berry); a berry’

Arabic فلفل filfil, fulful ‘pepper’ < Persian پلپل pilpil ‘id.’; cf. cognates Old Armenian płpeł, Old Georgian ṗilṗili < Middle Indo-Aryan ? ’long pepper’ < Sanskrit पिप्पलि pippali ’long pepper Piper longum (plant and berry); a berry’

Mandarin Chinese 胡椒 hú​jiāo ‘black pepper’ [barbarian-pepper ], from 胡 hú​ ‘Western barbarians, steppe nomads’ + 椒 jiāo ‘pepper, spice’ (jiāo was the prototype spice in China, originally referring to the local “Sichuan pepper” which is now called 花椒 huājiāo [flower-pepper ]), [Northern and Southern ] 420-445

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