malagueta

The story

1. Italian · derived frommelega“sorghum”
2. Italian · derived frommeleghetta
3. Middle French · derived frommalaguette
4. Portuguese · borrowed frommalagueta
5. English todaymalagueta

From Portuguese malagueta, probably via Middle French malaguette, from Italian meleghetta, from Italian melega (“sorghum”) and -etta (diminutive suffix). There are various paths by which the name could have become applied to the African pepper. Medieval Latin melegeta was an Indonesian spice called after millet on the basis of the supposed resemblance of their grains. By the mid-15th century, the West African Grain Coast was known in Portuguese as costa da malagueta, whence the place name was borrowed into other languages and applied to its local products. Early English use reports that it was the local name of the spice, long preserved around Cape Palmas, which may indicate a Mande or Kwa origin, although such use is usually attributed to loanwords from Portuguese. The unrelated Brazilian pepper acquired the name from its similar piquancy.