peppercorn

/ˈpɛpəkɔːn/

//ˈpɛpəkɔːn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"peppercorn" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“peppercorn” is uncommon English (frequency #69,324 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,324
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.

Corpus desk

Index EN-peppercorn · peppercorn · English

peppercorn · rank #69,324 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #69,324
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH perfumery

Nearest frequency peer: perfumery (+3 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “peppercorn”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “peppercorn” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for peppercorn
PropertyValue
Headwordpeppercorn
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɛpəkɔːn/
Letters10
Frequency rank#69,324
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “peppercorn” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).peppercornfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “perfumery” (#69,327), “Perlmutter” (#69,328), “petar” (#69,329). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “peppercorn” is #69,324. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

peppercorn is uncommon English at frequency #69,324 among 4,417 “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. 1
    The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.
  2. 2
    A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot.
  3. 3
    A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how peppercorn appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A 75 ¢ book must look 40 ¢ better to the distributor and wholesaler, because if one peppercorn of doubt that people will pay 75 ¢ for the book gets thrown into the distribution mill, the books may never leave their cartons […]
  2. peppercorn rent

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "peppercorn", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Perlmutter#69,328parasitism#69,317podiatrist#69,342octahedral#69,302

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list