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PlainSpell

pepper

pep·per/ˈpɛp.ɚ/noun, verb

pepper is spelled P-E-P-P-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (pep·per). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pepper means “A plant of the family Piperaceae” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pepper is peppers.

How many letters and syllables are in pepper?

Letters6: P-E-P-P-E-R
Syllables2: pep·per
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pepper?

Pepper appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th 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 pepper?

  • UK /ˈpɛp.ə/
  • UK [ˈpʰɛp.ə]
  • US /ˈpɛp.ɚ/

Pepper has 2 syllables, split pep·per in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-pepper.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with pepper

Also written: piper.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with pepper?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pepper from its last stressed vowel (/ɛpəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of pepper

  • peppers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • peppering participle, present
  • peppered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pepper mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A plant of the family Piperaceae.

  2. 2

    A spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe berries of this plant.

  3. 3

    CanadaIrelandUKUSA fruit of the capsicum plant: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in a wide range of mild (sweet, nonspicy) to hot (spicy) varieties.

  4. 4

    A game used by baseball players to warm up where fielders standing close to a batter rapidly return the batted ball to be hit again

    Some ballparks have signs saying "No pepper games".

  5. 5

    A randomly-generated value that is added to another value (such as a password) prior to hashing. Unlike a salt, a new one is generated for each value and it is held separately from the value.

  6. 6

    slangA beating; a thrashing.

  7. 7

    slangA shotgun.

verb

  1. 1

    To add pepper to.

  2. 2

    To strike with something made up of small particles.

  3. 3

    To cover with lots of (something made up of small things).

    After the hailstorm, the beach was peppered with holes.

  4. 4

    To add (something) at frequent intervals.

    He liked to pepper long words throughout his conversation.

  5. 5

    slangTo beat or thrash.

  6. 6

    To use a pepper (type of value used prior to hashing).

  7. 7

    slangTo shoot (upon) with the dotty.

  8. 8

    slangTo write accents or disambiguating marks in script.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pepper in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpoivrier (plant), poivre (spice), piment, poivron (fruit of the capsicum), poivrer, assaisonner de poivre (add pepper to)
GermanPfeffer, Pfefferstrauch (plant), Chili, Paprika, Paprikaschote (fruit of the capsicum), pfeffern (add pepper to)
Portuguesepimenta, pimenteiro (plant), pimento, pimentão (fruit of the capsicum), apimentar (add pepper to), salpicar (strike with small particles)
Spanishpimentero (plant), pimienta (spice), pimiento, chile, ají (fruit of the capsicum), acribillar (strike with small particles)

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 pepper come from?

From Middle English peper, piper, from Old English piper, from Proto-West Germanic *pipar, from Latin piper, from Ancient Greek πέπερι (péperi), from an Indo-Aryan source; compare Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippali, “long pepper”), ultimately from Dravidian; compare Tamil திப்பலி (tippali). The name was given to the capsicum fruit because of its unusual spicy taste, not unlike the Old World spice.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pepper