"pepper (the spice)" in seven languages
Meaningpepper (the spice)
Spanish
/piˈmjenta/
fem.other source · Latin PIGMENTA 'pigments; spices'
The vegetable is el pimiento, masculine.
French
/pwavʁ/
masc.inherited
Italian
/ˈpepe/
masc.inherited
The vegetable is il peperone.
Portuguese
/piˈmẽtɐ/
fem.other source · Latin PIGMENTA 'pigments; spices'
Pimenta is also chili; the bell pepper is pimentão.
Romanian
/ˈpiper/
masc.inherited
The vegetable is ardei.
Catalan
/ˈpebɾə/
masc.inherited
The vegetable is pebrot.
English
/ˈpɛpɚ/
from Latin/French · Old English pipor, from Latin PIPER
Calling the vegetable a pepper came later, after the American capsicums reached Europe.
The Latin ancestor
PIPER‘pepper (from Greek péperi, ultimately from India)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
PIPER travelled from India through Greek. French, Italian, Romanian and Catalan kept it (poivre and pebre with the western P → v, b); Spanish and Portuguese call it 'pigments' (pimienta, pimenta), the word behind pimiento.
English relatives: peppermint, paprika
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esPásame la sal y la pimienta.
- frPasse-moi le sel et le poivre.
- itPassami il sale e il pepe.
- ptMe passa o sal e a pimenta.
- roDă-mi sarea și piperul.
- caPassa'm la sal i el pebre.
- enPass me the salt and pepper.