Pepper

n. [ OE. peper, AS. pipor, L. piper, fr. Gr. pe`peri, pi`peri, akin to Skr. pippala, pippali. ] 1. A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any plant of the genus Capsicum (of the Solanaceae family, which are unrelated to Piper), and its fruit; red pepper; chili pepper; as, the bell pepper and the jalapeno pepper (both Capsicum annuum) and the habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense); . These contain varying levels of the substance capsaicin (C18H27O3N), which gives the peppers their hot taste. The habanero is about 25-50 times hotter than the jalapeno according to a scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. See also Capsicum and https://web.archive.org/web/20090312013237/http://www.chili-pepper-plants.com. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To fire numerous shots (at). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A buttress on the left-hand wall of a fives court as the game is played at Eton College, England. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Bot.) See 1st Bunt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A dried berry of the black pepper (Piper nigrum). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything insignificant; a particle. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) A variety of edible seaweed (Laurencia pinnatifida) distinguished for its pungency. [ Scot. ] Lindley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A grocer; -- formerly so called because he sold pepper. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) (a) Any herb of the cruciferous genus Lepidium, especially the garden peppergrass, or garden cress, Lepidium sativum; -- called also pepperwort. All the species have a pungent flavor. (b) The common pillwort of Europe (Pilularia globulifera). See Pillwort. [ 1913 Webster ]