Meanings
proper noun
- A measure for the piquancy (“heat, burn, spiciness”) of various chili peppers, indicating the level of capsaicin.
Origin
Named for American chemist Wilbur Scoville, who devised it in 1912.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Scoville scale. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scoville%20scale
MLA
“Scoville scale.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scoville%20scale. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Scoville scale,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scoville%20scale.
Source: Scoville scale on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.