capsicum

cap·sic·um
C3A1P3S1I1C3U1M3
/ˈkæpsɪkəm/[ˈkʰæpsɪkʰəm]

noun

Any of various tropical American plants, of the genus Capsicum, principally the species Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens, that are cultivated as edible peppers.

Similar
peppersweet peppercapsicum pepper plant
OriginNew Latin capsicum ← Ancient Greek καψικός ← Latin capsa →
Less commonScrabble 16
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Word of the Day · Oct 28, 2023

Meanings

nouncapsicum (plural capsicums or capsica)

plural capsicums · plural capsica

  1. Any of various tropical American plants, of the genus Capsicum, principally the species Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens, that are cultivated as edible peppers.

    Synonyms: pepper

    1. AustraliaIndiaNew ZealandSingaporeThe non-spicy fruit of the above plants, such as the bell pepper.

      Celery is often combined with carrots and onions in gently fried aromatic base preparations for other dishes (French mirepoix, Italian soffritto, Spanish sofregit; in the Louisiana Cajun “trinity” of aromatics the carrots are replaced by green capsicums).

      2004, Harold McGee, chapter 6, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN

      Synonyms: pepper, sweet pepper

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny of various tropical American plants, of the genus Capsicum, principally the species Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens, that are cultivated as edible peppers.

Similar
pepper

nounThe non-spicy fruit of the above plants, such as the bell pepper.

Similar
peppersweet pepper

More synonyms by meaning

nounany of various tropical plants of the genus Capsicum bearing peppers

Similar
peppercapsicum pepper plant
Broader
shrubbush
Also see
bell pepperpeppersweet pepper

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latincapsa“box”
  2. Ancient Greekκαψικός“like a box”
  3. New Latincapsicum
  4. Englishcapsicum

Borrowed from New Latin capsicum, from Ancient Greek καψικός (kapsikós, “like a box”), from Latin capsa (“box”).

More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic نَبَات فُلْفُل, فُلَيْفِلَة
  • نَبَات فُلْفُل (nabāt fulful)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • فُلَيْفِلَة (fulayfila)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Bulgarian чу́шка, пипе́р
  • чу́шка (čúška)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • пипе́р (pipér)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Chinese Mandarin 菜椒, 燈籠椒 /灯笼椒
  • 菜椒 (càijiāo)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • 燈籠椒 /灯笼椒 (dēnglongjiāo)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • 柿子椒 (shìzijiāo)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • 甜椒 (tiánjiāo)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Czech paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Danish peberfrugt, paprika
  • peberfrugtbell pepper
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Dutch capsicum
  • capsicumplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Esperanto kapsiko
  • kapsikoplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Estonian paprika, punapipar
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • punapiparplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Finnish paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
French piment doux, piment
  • piment douxplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • pimentplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
German Capsicum, Paprika
  • Capsicumplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • Paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Greek πιπεριά
  • πιπεριά (piperiá)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Hebrew פִּלְפֶּלֶת
  • פִּלְפֶּלֶת (pilpélet)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Hindi शिमला मिर्च, पहाड़ीमिर्च
  • शिमला मिर्च (śimlā mirc)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • पहाड़ीमिर्च (pahāṛīmirc)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Hungarian paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Indonesian kapsikum
  • kapsikumplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Japanese ピーマン, 唐辛子
  • ピーマン (pīman)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • 唐辛子 (tōgarashi)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • 蕃椒 (banshō)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Korean 피망, 고추
  • 피망 (pimang)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • 고추 (gochu)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Latvian paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Lithuanian paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Malay lada benggala, kapsikum
  • lada benggalabell pepper
  • kapsikumplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Māori rapikama
  • rapikamaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Norwegian Bokmål paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Polish papryka, papryka roczna
  • paprykabell pepper
  • papryka rocznabell pepper
  • paprykaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Portuguese cápsico
  • cápsicoplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Romanian ardei
  • ardeiplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Russian стручко́вый пе́рец, пе́рец
  • стручко́вый пе́рец (stručkóvyj pérec)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • пе́рец (pérec)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • сла́дкий пе́рец (sládkij pérec)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • болга́рский пе́рец (bolgárskij pérec)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • па́прика (páprika)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • ка́псикум (kápsikum)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Slovak paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Spanish pimiento
  • pimientoplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Swedish paprika
  • paprikaplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Tamil கேப்சிகம், குடமிளகாய்
  • கேப்சிகம் (kēpcikam)bell pepper
  • குடமிளகாய் (kuṭamiḷakāy)bell pepper
Thai ชี้ฟ้า, พริกหยวก
  • ชี้ฟ้า (chíi-fáa)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • พริกหยวก (prík-yùuak)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Turkish biber
  • biberplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Ukrainian стручко́вий пе́рець, па́прика
  • стручко́вий пе́рець (stručkóvyj pérecʹ)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • па́прика (pápryka)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Urdu شِمْلَہ مِرْچ
  • شِمْلَہ مِرْچ (śimla mirc)plant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Vietnamese cây ớt, chi ớt
  • cây ớtplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
  • chi ớtplant of the genus Capsicum (only terms covering capsicum in general apply, NOT species-specific)
Cite this entry
APA

capsicum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capsicum

MLA

“capsicum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capsicum. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “capsicum,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capsicum.

Source: capsicum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.