peppercorn

Name: peppercorn, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈpɛpəkɔːn/

//ˈpɛpəkɔːn// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“peppercorn” is uncommon English (frequency #69,324 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,324
frequency rank, English: 46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.

Key facts for peppercorn
Property	Value
Headword	peppercorn
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈpɛpəkɔːn/
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#69,324
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “peppercorn” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). peppercorn lands here:

#69,324

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

peppercorn is uncommon English at frequency #69,324 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɛpəkɔːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for peppercorn in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English peper corn, peper-corn, pepercorn, from Old English piporcorn (“peppercorn”), corresponding to pepper + corn. Compare Dutch peperkorrel (“peppercorn”), German Pfefferkorn (“peppercorn”), Danish peberkorn (“peppercorn”), Swedish… The correct English form is peppercorn, spelled P-E-P-P-E-R-C-O-R-N.

Definition

1
The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.
2
A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot.
3
A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English peper corn, peper-corn, pepercorn, from Old English piporcorn (“peppercorn”), corresponding to pepper + corn. Compare Dutch peperkorrel (“peppercorn”), German Pfefferkorn (“peppercorn”), Danish peberkorn (“peppercorn”), Swedish pepparkorn (“peppercorn”), Icelandic piparkorn (“peppercorn”).

This word in other languages

grain de poivre(Français)Pfefferkorn(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "peppercorn"?

"peppercorn" is spelled P-E-P-P-E-R-C-O-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɛpəkɔːn/.

What does "peppercorn" mean?

As a noun, "peppercorn" means: The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.

How do you pronounce "peppercorn"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "peppercorn" is /ˈpɛpəkɔːn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "peppercorn"?

Inherited from Middle English peper corn, peper-corn, pepercorn, from Old English piporcorn (“peppercorn”), corresponding to pepper + corn. Compare Dutch peperkorrel (“peppercorn”), German Pfefferkorn (“peppercorn”), Danish peberkorn (“peppercorn”... See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “peppercorn”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is P-E-P-P-E-R-C-O-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˈpɛpəkɔːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.