capsaicin
/kæpˈseɪəsən/noun
capsaicin is spelled C-A-P-S-A-I-C-I-N: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, capsaicin means “A chemical compound found in chilli peppers, which is responsible for their piquancy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of capsaicin is capsaicins.
How many letters and syllables are in capsaicin?
| Letters | 9: C-A-P-S-A-I-C-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 65,114th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is capsaicin?
Capsaicin appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce capsaicin?
- /kæpˈseɪəsən/
- /kæpˈseɪsən/
Capsaicin has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-capsaicin.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of capsaicin
- capsaicins plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does capsaicin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A chemical compound found in chilli peppers, which is responsible for their piquancy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Capsaicin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense chemical compound:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | capsaïcine, capsaïsine |
| German | Capsaicin |
| Portuguese | capsaicina |
| Spanish | capsaicina |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does capsaicin come from?
Arbitrary alteration of earlier capsicine, capsicin (“material extracted from cayenne pepper”), presumably to prevent confusion, from German Capsicin, from New Latin capsicum + German -in. Name introduced by John Clough Thresh (1850–1932) in “Capsaicin, the Active Principle of Capsicum Fruits”.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).