pepper

▪ I. pepper, n.
    (ˈpɛpə(r))
    Forms: 1 pipor, piper, 4 peopur, 4–5 pepir, (5 pepyr(e, -ur, pepre), 4–6 piper, 4–8 peper, 6– pepper.
    [OE. pipor = OLG. *pipar, MLG., MDu. pēper (LG. and Du. peper), OHG. pfeffar, MHG. and Ger. pfeffer, ON. piparr (Norw. pipar, Sw. peppar, ODa. piberr, Da. peber); Com. WGer. a. L. piper = Gr. πέπερι, of Oriental origin: cf. Skt. pippaˈlī long-pepper. The condiment must have become known to the Germanic peoples with its Latin name before the 4th c. From OE. pipor, through *piopor, *peopor, came ME. peopur, pepur, peper.
    (L. piper gave Pr. pebre, OF. and AF. peivre, F. poivre.)]
    1. a. A pungent aromatic condiment, derived from species of Piper and allied genera (see 2), used from ancient times for flavouring, and acting as a digestive stimulant and carminative; esp. the dried berries of Piper nigrum or an allied species, either used whole (peppercorns) or ground into powder.

c 1000 ælfric Gram. ix. (Z.) 44 Piper, piper [v.r. pipor]. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 24 Meng pipor wiþ hwit cwudu. a 1300 Siriz 279 in Mätzner Altengl. Sprachpr. 111/1 Pepir nou shalt thou eten, This mustart shal ben thi mete. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 155, I haue peper [C. vii. 359 piper] and piane, and a pound of garlek. 1488 Nottingham Rec. III. 269 For d. a quarter of pepur. 1543–4 Act 35 Hen. VIII, c. 10 They..shal for euer yelde beare and pay yerely..one pounde of pepper, in and for the acknowledgyng hym. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 90 b, The vertue of all peppers in commun is to heat. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. (1690) 46 Sugar, Tobacco, and Pepper..custom hath now made necessary to all sorts of people. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxi. III. 223 note, Pepper was a favourite ingredient of the most expensive Roman cookery. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth, Finding that milk will not nourish, nor sugar sweeten,..nor pepper bite the tongue.

    b. black pepper, the most usual form of the condiment, prepared from the berries dried when not quite ripe. white pepper, a less pungent form, from the same berries dried when fully ripe, or from the black by removing the outer husk. (See also 3.) long pepper, a similar condiment prepared from the immature fruit-spikes of the allied plants Piper (Chavica) officinarum and P. longum (C. Roxburghii), formerly supposed to be the flowers or unripe fruits of P. nigrum.

c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 186 ᵹenim langes pipores .x. corn. Ibid. 234 Wyrc him sealfe..of blacum pipore. 13.. K. Alis. 7032 (Bodl. MS.) Þe white Peper hijlibben by. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xv. 168 There is iij maner of peper alle vpon o tree, Long peper, blak peper, and white peper... The long peper comethe first..and it is lyche the chattes of haselle that comethe before the lef. 1546 [see 4]. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa Introd. 42 This tailed or long pepper so far excelleth the pepper of the east Indies, that an ounce thereof is of more force then halfe a pound of that other. 1796 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 343 Half an ounce of black pepper, the same of long pepper. 1857 Henfrey Elem. Bot. 383 Long Pepper is the dried spikes of Chavica Roxburghi. 1866 Treas. Bot. 264 The Long Pepper which is imported by the Dutch is said to be produced by an allied species, C. officinarum. 1876 Harley Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 434 Long Pepper has been employed by the Hindoos in medicine from the earliest times.

    c. In extended use, including the pungent condiments yielded by other plants: see 3.

1838 Don Gard. Dict. IV. 446 Capsicum frutescens... The ripe pods are dried in the sun... It is then fit for use as a pepper. 1886 Hunter Imp. Gaz. India X. 277 Nepal..Indian corn, rice, or pepper during the rains. 1904 Army & Navy Store Catal., Coraline pepper, a kind of red pepper. Mignonette pepper, a whitish pepper.

    2. a. The plant Piper nigrum, a climbing shrub indigenous to the East Indies, and cultivated also in the West Indies, having alternate stalked entire leaves, with pendulous green flower-spikes opposite the leaves, succeeded by small berries turning red when ripe. Also, any plant of the genus Piper (including Chavica) or (by extension) of the family Piperaceæ.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxxxi. (Bodl. MS.) Whan the wodes of peper beþ ripe. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xviii. 83 Pepre growez in maner of wilde wynes be syde þe treesse of þe forest, for to be suppoweld by þam. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 20 Pepper groweth in Calicut. 1693 Sir T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 51 Pepper grows best in shady places; that it hath a weak Stem, to be supported like Vines. 1858 Hogg Veg. Kingd. 686 Order CXCIV. Piperaceæ. The Peppers are confined entirely to the tropics.

    b. Applied to other plants, usually with qualifying words (see 3, 7), or, in particular localities, absolutely; esp. the sweet pepper, Capsicum annuum, originally native to tropical America but now widely cultivated elsewhere, and its red, green, or yellow bell-shaped fruits; in quots. 1893, 1897 = pepper-tree a.

[1728 R. Bradley Dictionarium Botanicum I. s.v. Capsicum siliqua olivaria propendens, This Pepper hath small and long round Cods.] 1884 tr. A. de Candolle's Orig. Cultivated Plants ii. iv. 289 It [sc. Capsicum annuum] was one of the peppers that Piso and Marcgraf saw grown in Brazil. 1893 K. A. Sanborn Truthful Woman S. California 74 Marengo Avenue is lined on either side by splendid specimens of the pepper, the prettiest and most graceful of all trees here. 1897 Outing (U.S.) Mar. 582/1 Four magnolias were planted at each cross street, and the inter-spaces filled with peppers. 1923 H. C. Thompson Vegetable Crops xxv. 399 Peppers are grown in very much the same way as egg⁓plants and tomatoes. Ibid. 400 Of the large-fruited, sweet peppers, Ruby King, Bell or Bullnose,..and Golden Queen are well-known varieties. 1949 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Aug. 166/2 When we say ‘peppers’ without any qualifying word, we usually mean sweet or nonpungent kinds that are eaten as a vegetable, either cooked or raw in salads. 1963 L. Phillips Recipes from Guardian 124 Crisp red and yellow pepper rings dressed with lemon juice and olive oil and seasoned well make a good salad. Ibid., Scrambled eggs take on a new look if small pieces of different coloured peppers are added. 1972 Y. Lovelock Vegetable Bk. iii. 320 Capsicums, or peppers, are the various-sized seedpods of a solanaceous plant, having nothing in common with the true peppers (Piperaceae) except the hot quality of some, but by no means all, of them. 1975 I. & A. Mancinelli tr. Bianchini & Corbetta's Fruits of Earth 94 Peppers originated in South America, probably Brazil.

    3. With qualifying words, applied to various plants furnishing pungent condiments or to such condiments themselves; sometimes to plants having leaves of a pungent flavour. African pepper, (a) Habzelia (Xylopia) æthiopica or other species (family Anonaceæ); (b) Capsicum fastigiatum; anise pepper, Xanthoxylon mantschuricum of China (Treas. Bot. 1866); Ashantee or West African pepper = African cubebs; bitter pepper, Xanthoxylon Daniellii of China (Treas. Bot.); Boulon pepper = African pepper (a) (ibid.); chili pepper, (a) = pepper-tree a; (b) erron. = chilli; Chinese pepper = Japanese pepper (Treas. Bot.); clove pepper, a local English name of All-spice; Ethiopian pepper = African p. (a); Guinea pepper, (a) species of Capsicum; (b) species of Amomum: see Guinea pepper; (c) = African p. (a); Japanese pepper, Xanthoxylon piperitum of Japan and China; Java pepper = cubeb (Treas. Bot.); Melegueta pepper = grains of Paradise: see grain n.¹ 4 a.; monkey pepper = African p. (a) (Treas. Bot.); mountain pepper, the seeds of a species of caper, Capparis sinaica (Treas. Bot.); Negro pepper = African p. (a) (Treas. Bot.); poor man's pepper, (a) a name for species of cress (Lepidium: see pepperwort 1); (b) common stonecrop, Sedum acre; spur pepper, shrubby Capsicum, C. frutescens (Miller Plant-n. 1884); star pepper = bitter pepper (Treas. Bot.); Tasmanian or Victorian pepper = pepper-tree b, Tasmannia aromatica (Miller Plant-n.); † white pepper, an old name for salad rocket, Eruca sativa; see also 1 b; wild pepper, (a) Vitex trifolia of the East Indies (Treas. Bot.); (b) locally, common yarrow, Achillea Millefolium (Britten & Holl., 1886). See also bell-pepper, betel-pepper, bird-pepper, bonnet-pepper, cayenne pepper, cherry pepper, country pepper, cubeb pepper, goat-pepper, Indian pepper, Jamaica pepper, red pepper, wall pepper, water pepper.

1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *African Pepper, the fruit of the Xylopia aromatica, which is used as pepper in Sierra Leone, and other parts of Africa. 1864 N. & Q. 3rd Ser. VI. 216/1 In this part of Yorkshire, what is called ‘*clove-pepper’ and known to the southerns as ‘all-spice’ is still largely used to season cheesecakes.

1866 Treas. Bot. 1240 The fruits..of X[anthoxylon] piperitum, a Japanese species, are called *Japan-pepper.

Ibid. 564 H[abzelia] æthiopica..is often called *Negro-pepper, Guinea pepper, or Ethiopian pepper, and by old authors Piper æthiopicum.

1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 322 *Poor Man's Pepper, Lepidium. 1866 Treas. Bot. 862 Poor Man's P., the provincial name of Lepidium latifolium. 1886 Britten & Holland Eng. Plant-n., Poor Man's Pepper, (1) Lepidium campestre. Warw. (2) Sedum acre. Notts; Suss. Prior, p. 185.

1866 Treas. Bot. 219 The shrubby Capsicum, or *Spur Pepper (C. frutescens),..a native of the East Indies,..has been in our gardens since 1656. 1884 Miller Plant-n.

1538 Turner Libellus, Euzomon siue Eruca... aliqui uocant *whyte pepper.

    4. a. In allusive or proverbial expressions, usually referring to the pungent or biting quality of pepper.

c 1400 Rom. Rose 6029 Ladyes shulle hem such pepir brewe, If that they falle into hir laas. c 1530 R. Hilles Common-Pl. Bk. (1858) 140 Though peper be blek yt hath a gode smek. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. ii. iv. (1867) 51 Blacke inke is as yll meate, as blacke pepper is good. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 158 Heere's the Challenge, reade it: I warrant there's vinegar and pepper in 't. a 1732 Gay New Song New Similies 52 Her wit like pepper bites. 1820 Sporting Mag. VI. 80 Spring..gave the big one pepper at the ropes. 1863 Reade Hard Cash xvi, Jump, you boys! or you'll catch pepper. 1869 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 468 By loading it with slugs..he should be able to give the ‘varmint’ pepper. 1893 Fenn Real Gold (1894) 20 Feeling what a lie it was, I grew pepper. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 171 And here's himself and pepper on him, Nosey Flynn said. 1960 Encounter Feb. 34/1 ‘Pepper’, that characteristically American streak of free⁓wheeling, urban critical scepticism. 1966 C. Achebe Man of People vii. 81 If you insult me again I will show you pepper. 1973 J. Wainwright Touch of Malice 136 ‘Are you calling me a liar, constable?’ Ripley sprinkled pepper on his voice.

    † b. to take pepper in the nose: to take offence, become angry. So to snuff pepper in the same sense. to have pepper in the nose (quot. 1377): to behave superciliously or roughly. Obs.

1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 197 Boxome as of berynge to burgeys And to lordes, And to pore peple han peper in þe nose. 1520 Whitinton Vulg. (1527) 24 If ony man offende hym, he may not forthwith take peper in the nose, and show by rough wordes..that he is angred. 1602 2nd Pt. Ret. fr. Parnass. i. iii. 343, I tell thee this libel of Cambridge has much salt and pepper in the nose. 1624–61 R. Davenport City Nightcap iv. in Hazl. Dodsley XIII. 166 Here are some of other cities..that might snuff pepper else. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 267 The peevish old gentleman took pepper in the nose. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. v. (1737) 20 Having taken Pepper in the Nose, he was lugging out his Sword.

    5. Used ellipt. for pepper-pot.

1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 439/1 Silver plated Pepper or Salt. 1908 Ibid. 360/3 Handsome Salts and Peppers, hand decorated. 1966 J. Douglas How to Collect ii. 9 A plain Queen Anne or early Georgian silver pepper can cost you a great deal. 1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird ii. 30 He turfed out my things on to the table. The sugar... A miniature pepper and salt. A pack of fruit gums.

    6. In skipping, the speed at which the rope is turned as quickly as possible.

1901 R. C. Maclagan Games Argyleshire 229 The skipping may be done rapidly or slowly... In Kintyre slow skipping is called ‘salt’; quick skipping, ‘pepper’. 1948 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore LXI. 65 In Pennsylvania the term ‘pepper’ means a very rapid, strenuous rhythm. In most other places it is called ‘hot pepper’ or ‘hot peas’. 1972 F. B. Maynard Raisins & Almonds 56 Sometimes they skipped to the tune..with the spinning rope. (Hazel did pepper faster than anybody I knew).

    7. attrib. and Comb., as pepper-berry, pepper-field, pepper-plantation, pepper-seed, pepper-vend; pepper-coloured, pepper-proof adjs.; Pepper Alley, name of an alley in London, hence allusively in pugilistic slang (cf. quot. 1820 in 4 and pepper v. 5); pepper-bird, a name for the toucan (see quot.); pepper-bottle = pepper-box 1; pepper-brand, a disease of wheat (= bunt n.² 2); † pepper-bread, gingerbread; pepper-bush, (a) the common pepper, Piper nigrum, or any bushy plant called pepper (see 3); (b) Clethra alnifolia (Sweet Pepper-bush), a fragrant-flowered shrub of the heath family growing in swamps in the east of N. America, or C. tinifolia of the West Indies; pepper-cake [cf. Du. peperkoek (in Kilian), Ger. pfefferkuchen], local (Yorksh.) name for a pungent kind of gingerbread; pepper-cress, (a) Teesdalia nudicaulis (see cress); (b) garden cress, Lepidium sativum (Cent. Dict.); pepper-crop, stonecrop, Sedum acre (Treas. Bot. 1866); pepper-dulse, Scotch name for a pungent edible seaweed, Laurencia pinnatifida; pepper-dust, the sweepings of warehouses where pepper is stored, often used to adulterate black pepper; pepper-elder, name for plants of the genera Peperomia, Enckea, and Artanthe, allied to the common pepper; pepper gas, an anti-personnel ‘gas’ that produces irritation of the throat and nasal passages; also as v. trans., to attack with pepper gas; pepper-gingerbread, hot-spiced gingerbread (cf. pepper-cake); † pepper-horn, a vessel or box for holding pepper; pepper-man, (in quot.) a dealer in pepper; pepper-mill, a small hand-mill for grinding pepper (Simmonds 1858); pepper-moth = peppered moth; † pepper-nosed a. Obs., apt to take offence (cf. 4 b); pepper-plant, the plant Piper nigrum, or any plant producing ‘pepper’; pepper-pod, the pod of any species of Capsicum; † pepper-polk Sc. Obs. [poke n.], a bag for pepper, a spice-bag; pepper-porridge, porridge flavoured with pepper; pepper-posset, posset flavoured with pepper; pepper-rent, rent paid in pepper: cf. peppercorn rent; pepper-rod, a West Indian euphorbiaceous shrub, Croton humilis (Treas. Bot. 1866); pepper-root, any species of Dentaria, esp. D. diphylla (= pepperwort 1 b), so called from the pungent-flavoured root (ibid.); pepper-sauce, a pungent sauce or condiment made by steeping ‘red peppers’ (capsicum-pods) in vinegar; pepper saxifrage, book-name for the umbelliferous genus Silaus; pepper shaker N. Amer. = pepper-castor, -caster 1; pepper-shrub, any shrubby plant called ‘pepper’ (see 3: cf. pepper-tree); pepper soup, a West African soup made with red pepper and other hot spices; pepper steak (see quot. 1970); pepper-vine, (a) the common pepper-plant, or any climbing plant called ‘pepper’ (see 2, 3); spec. (b) Ampelopsis bipinnata, a N. American plant allied to the Virginian Creeper; pepper-weed, any small wild plant allied to the common pepper, as species of Peperomia; pepper-wheat, wheat affected with pepper-brand; † pepper-wine (see quot.); † pepper-worm, a microscopic animalcule contained in pepper-water (see pepper-water 1). Also pepper-and-salt, pepper-box, etc.

1820 Sporting Mag. VII. 145 His mug, it was chaffed, had paid a visit to ‘*pepper alley’. 1821 Ibid. 274 It was Pepper alley on both sides.

1611 Cotgr. s.v. Poyvre verd, Some report that the ordinarie *Pepper-berrie gathered while tis greene, and vnripe..is that which we call white Pepper.

1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 381 The Ramphastos, with a yellow rump. The *Pepper-bird.

1846 Worcester, *Pepper⁓brand, a disease in grain. Farm. Ency.

1611 Florio, Pepáto,..Ginger or *Pepper-bread.

1832 Veg. Subst. Food 358 Piper nigrum... This *pepper-bush is..found native..on the coast of Malabar. 1866 Treas. Bot. 862 Sweet Pepper⁓bush, an American name for Clethra.

1648–78 Hexham, Peper-koeck, *Pepper-cake or Spice-cake. 1818 Todd, Pepper-gingerbread, what is now called spice-gingerbread; and in the north pepper-cake. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss. s.v., All comers to the house are invited to partake of the pepper-cake and cheese.

1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose x. 99 Mildred..patted her fluffy *pepper-coloured hair into place. 1978 H. Jobson To die a Little v. 89, I picked up a pepper⁓coloured jacket.

1777 Lightfoot Flora Scot. 953 Fucus pinnatifidus..This Fucus has a hot taste in the mouth, and is therefore called *Pepper Dulse by the people in Scotland, who frequently eat it as a salad. 1849 D. Landsborough Pop. Hist. Brit. Seaweeds 254 It is called pepper-dulse, and it certainly has, especially when young, a very pungent smell and peppery taste... It was formerly eaten in Scotland. 1931 L. Newton Handbk. Brit. Seaweeds 340 This species [sc. Laurencia pinnatifida] often has a hot biting taste, and was formerly eaten in Scotland under the name of Pepper Dulse. 1972 Y. Lovelock Vegetable Bk. i. 209 Pepper dulse (Laurencia pinnatifolia) was once eaten in Scotland but never gained great popularity. The name refers to the fact that it has often (though not always) a hot biting taste.

1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xxi, He..took *pepper-dust instead of brown Scotch snuff.

1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Pepper⁓elder, a species of the pepper tribe,..abundant in Jamaica, the aromatic seeds of which afford a good substitute for the black pepper of the East Indies.

1970 Times 9 July 5 About 225 State and city policemen, armed with *pepper gas, submachine guns, rifles and shotguns, repelled the mob. 1973 R. Hayes Hungarian Game xlvi. 281 When Michael didn't open the door, they began filling the room with pepper gas. 1973 Black Panther 17 Nov. 5/4 The 38 have been beaten, peppergassed, maced, isolated, harrassed and now intimidated. 1976 New Yorker 26 Jan. 74/2 The police dispersed the demonstrators with tear gas and pepper gas.

1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 260 And leaue in sooth, And such protest of *Pepper Ginger-bread, To Veluet-Guards, and Sunday-Citizens.

a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 264 Sticfodder, *piper⁓horn, cyste. 1648–78 Hexham, Peper-huysjen, Small Pepper⁓horn to put spices in.

a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal xiv. 258 ‘Weigh, weigh!’ cries This badger, this great *pepper-man.

1884 G. Meredith Let. 13 May (1970) II. 735 My table is the richer for a *pepper-mill. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 210/2 Pepper Mills for Table. Walnut..1/3... Ivory—12/11. 1972 J. Burmeister Running Scared iv. 63, I feel like smoked salmon with four hefty winds on the pepper mill.

1864 Webster, *Pepper-moth, a moth of the genus Biston, having small spots on the wings resembling grains of pepper.

1580 H. Gifford Gilloflowers (1875) 113, I know some *pepernosed dame, Will tearme me foole and sawcie iack.

1611 Cotgr., Poyvrette,..some also call so, the Guinnie *Pepper plant. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1126 T[asmannia] aromatica... The colonists call it the Pepper-plant, and use its little black pungent fruits as a substitute for pepper.

1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scot. v. (1855) 64 A senior major, hot as a *pepper-pod.

a 1568 Wowing of Jok & Jynny vii. (Bann. MS.), Ane *pepper polk maid of a padill.

1803 Poet. Petit. agst. Tractorising Trumpery 92 All piping hot, as *pepper-porridge.

1669 Stubbe Let. 17 Dec. in Boyle's Wks. (1772) I. Life 91 It creates in the throat such a sense, as remains, after drinking *pepper-posset.

1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 142, I hope you are *Pepper⁓proof.

1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxv. 626 The general prevalence of *pepper-rents, (the term has survived to our time, but in the altered meaning of a nominal payment)..An obligation laid..upon the tenant to supply his lord with a certain quantity (generally a pound) of pepper at a given day.

1648–78 Hexham, Pepersauce, *Pepper-sauce. 1864 Webster, Pepper-sauce. 1899 Scribner's Mag. XXV. 100/1 His skin is full of oil, and whiskey,..and canvas-back ducks, and pepper-sauce.

1854 S. Thomson Wild Fl. iii. (ed. 4) 234 The *pepper saxifrage..is distinguishable by its yellow flowers.

1626 Bacon Sylva §576 The seeds of Clove-Trees, and *Pepper-seeds.

1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 543/3 Salt and *pepper shakers, made of crystal blown glass, extra large capacity, and well adapted for kitchen as well as table use. Specify salt or pepper when ordering. 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Apr. 2/1 (Advt.), Table Necessities..Pepper Shakers of Cut Glass, sterling silver tops. 1977 Transatlantic Rev. lx. 89 We divide up nine individual packets of sugar, six of ketchup, three rippled pepper shakers.

1693 Phil. Trans. XVII. 687 It's Trunk is loaded with Snails, and the *Pepper-Shrub often climbs up it like Ivy. 1830 Hobart Town Almanack 65 in Morris Austral Eng. s.v. Pepper-tree, A thick grove of the pepper⁓shrub, Tasmania fragrans.

1964 J. P. Clark Masquerade in Three Plays 76 Why, Only this morning I opened my fishbasket To have stock for our *pepper soup. 1966 C. Achebe Man of People xii. 148 My father was..eating pounded yams and pepper soup.

1951 E. David French Country Cooking 114 *Pepper steaks... Score the steaks..rub them with garlic and then with a thin coating of pounded peppercorns. 1965 K. Giles Some Beasts no More v. 125, I had some⁓thing to eat, they still do a good pepper steak. 1970 Simon & Howe Dict. Gastron. 297/1 Pepper steak, beef steak rubbed liberally with freshly-ground black pepper before cooking. 1976 K. Thackeray Crownbird v. 91 The barbecue area where an African was cooking pepper steaks and kebabs.

1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) II. v. ix. 262/2 They petitioned..that no Pepper might be brought in for three Years into any of her Dominions, the Time of the *Pepper-vend requiring no less.

1801 Asiat. Ann. Reg. II. Misc. Tracts 78/2 The *pepper-vine..grows very well there, and produces a large corn. 1862 Beveridge Hist. India I. Introd. 11 The pepper-vine..entwines among the cocoas and other palms of the Malabar coast, and forms a considerable article of export. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1217 Vine, Pepper. Ampelopsis bipinnata. 1884 Miller Plant-n., Pepper-vine, Two-winged Virginian Creeper.

1871 Kingsley At Last v, That one happens to be..a *pepper-weed, first cousin to the great black-pepper bush.

1744–50 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. II. ii. 32 What we call *Pepper⁓wheat. 1764 Museum Rust. III. ii. 5 A good crop,..clear from smut and pepper-wheat.

1601 Holland Pliny I. 421 We spice our wines now adaies also,..we adde pepper and hony therto: which some call Condite, others *Pepper wines.

1657–83 Evelyn Hist. Relig. (1850) I. 31 The..mite or *peper-worm, (that dust of a creature, whereof fifty thousand are contained in one drop).

▪ II. ˈpepper, v.
    [f. prec. n. (OE. had piporian, piprian, ᵹepiperian, in same sense (so ON. pipra, OHG. phefferôn, MHG. and Ger. pfeffer(e)n, Du. peperen); but the current verb seems to have been formed anew in 16th c.]
    1. a. trans. To sprinkle with pepper; to flavour or season with pepper; to treat with pepper. Also absol.

[c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 182 Sele þonne ᵹepiporodne wyrtdrenc. Ibid., ᵹepipera mid xx corna. Ibid. III. 76 Pipra hit syþþan swa swa man wille.] 1581 and 1620 [see peppered]. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 142 This Venison is plaguily pepper'd. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery x. 161 Dried salmon..when laid on the gridiron should be moderately peppered. 1865 J. Macgregor Rob Roy Baltic (1867) 205 There is the blind that won't pull down or stop up, and the pepper⁓box that won't pepper.

    b. Falconry. To wash (a hawk) with water and pepper, in order to cleanse her from vermin, etc. [So F. poivrer.]

1618 Latham Falconry ii. 34 Hauing on euening your water with pepper prouided, and when you haue, according to the order and accustomed manner, well washed and peppered her, take off her rufterhood. Ibid. 81 Vpon the receit of such a Hawke from the Cage, suddenly to make her gentle, by peppering, watching, and other such like accustomed vses.

    2. To sprinkle (a surface) as with pepper; to cover, or fill with numerous small objects, spots, or dots, likened to grains of pepper; to besprinkle, dot, stud. Also fig. (Mostly in pa. pple.)

1612 J. Davies Wit's Pilgr. (1878) 46/1 Note the Lyning of the roialst Robe; Its powdred Ermyne, pepperd too with Stings. 1705 Lady Wentworth Let. 9 Mar. in W. Papers (1883) 40 Betty..affects to be afraid of the small pox, and thearfor I fear would be pepered with them should she get them. 1835 M. Scott Cruise Midge xxi, The neighbouring thickets were peppered with..small white⁓washed buildings. 1882 B. Harte Flip ii, Her flushed face..peppered with minute..freckles. 1896 Moxon's Mech. Exerc., Printing 422 Every page was peppered with italic.

    3. To sprinkle like pepper; to scatter in small particles. Also fig. Also intr. in same sense.

1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 197 As grinning north-winds..pepper'd round my head their hail and snow. 1857 [see Geewhillikins int.]. 1899 E. T. Fowler Double Thread xii, People go peppering them [words] all over the place, utterly unconscious of the awful responsibility. 1945 C. Mann in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 263 They would be routed..by the driven sand and salt peppering into their eyes. 1947 W. de la Mare Coll. Stories for Children 14 A few hollow cockled-up bean seeds peppered down from out of their dry shucks.

    4. a. To pelt with shot or missiles. Also fig.

c 1644 J. Somerville Mem. Somervilles (1815) II. 347 First peppering them soundly with ther shott. 1689 Shadwell Bury F. i. i, There i'faith I pepper'd the Court with libels and lampoons. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews i. xvi, I'll pepper you better than ever you was pepper'd by Jenny Bouncer. 1773 Life N. Frowde 135 She soon got into order and peppered us with her small Shot. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt ii, You may pepper the bishops a little. 1884 Sala Journ. due South i. xxiv. (1887) 327 Peppering the guide occasionally with Greek and Latin lore. 1885 Century Mag. XXX. 386/1 Galloping after us, and peppering us with shot-guns.

    b. intr. To discharge shot or other small missiles (at something). Const. away.
    In quot. 1767 said of rain, to pour heavily; in quot. 1894 (colloq.) to ‘go at it’ vigorously: cf. pelt.

1767 Gray Let. to Mason 11 Sept., We came peppering and raining back through Keswick to Penrith. Next day,—raining still. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xviii. 167 The Grangerfords..peppered away at him. 1890 W. A. Wallace Only a Sister 37 He could not possibly be peppering away at the pheasants in Sir James's covers. 1894 Morris in Mackail Life II. 300 The nightingales..O my wig, they were peppering into it.

    5. a. trans. To inflict severe punishment or suffering upon; to ‘give it’ (a person) ‘hot’; to beat severely, trounce; also † to pepper (one's) box or pans (obs.). Hence, † b. To punish effectually or decisively; to give (one) his death-blow (lit. or by hyperbole), to ‘do for’, ruin. Now rare.

c 1500 in Babees Bk. 404 My master pepered my ars with well good spede. 1589 Nashe Pasquil's Retvrne Wks. (Grosart) I. 97 Against the next Parliament, I wyll picke out a time to pepper them. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 102, I am pepper'd I warrant, for this world. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 212. 1608 Day Hum. out of Br. i. iii, And I were a man as I am no woman, i'de pepper your box for that ieast. 1609 R. Armin Maids of More-Cl. (1880) 89 Boy Ile pepper your pans. 1631 Heywood 2nd Pt. Maid of West iv. Wks. 1874 II. 393 She's peppered by this. 1693 Southerne Maid's Last Prayer ii. i. Wks. 1721 II. 28 If he finds out my haunts he swears he'll pepper me. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xxii, Well, signor, he's peppered now. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Pepper..2 To beat, to thrash.

    6. To give pungency, spice, or flavour to: † a. a person: to ‘heat’, to excite to anger or other strong feeling (obs.); b. to ‘season’, ‘spice’ (speech or writing). Also absol.

1600 Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood vii. 84 Parboild in rage, pepperd in heate of ire. 1835 Blackw. Mag. XXXVII. 515 A novel..requires less intense, less fierce interest, than the acted drama, and, accordingly, the novelists do not pepper quite so high as the dramatists.

    † c. To dose with praise or flattery. Obs.

1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes 24 Our [mock] Emperour, having a spice of self conceit before, was soundly peppered now. 1774 Goldsm. Retal. 111 'Till, his relish grown callous, almost to disease, Who pepper'd the highest, was surest to please. 1784 Sir J. Reynolds in Leslie & Taylor Life (1865) II. viii. 459 Vying with each other who should pepper highest.

    † 7. To infect with venereal disease. (F. poivrer.)

1607 Dekker Northw. Hoe ii. i. Wks. 1873 III. 21. 1615 J. Stephens Ess. & Char. iv. 28 And then you snarle against our simple French As if you had beene pepperd with your wench. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. xxi. (1737) 93. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 44. 3/1. 1723 Pres. St. Russia I. 277 A Woman of the Town..having peppered some hundreds of the Preobrazinsky Guards.

Oxford English Dictionary