peppercorn

pep·per·corn
P3E1P3P3E1R1C3O1R1N1
UK/ˈpɛpəkɔːn/US/ˈpɛpɚkɔɹn/

noun

The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.

“peppercorn rent”

Similar
pepper
OriginMiddle English peper corn ← Old English piporcorn →
UncommonScrabble 18
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Meanings

peppercorn1

nounpeppercorn (plural peppercorns)

plural peppercorns

  1. The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.
  2. A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot.

    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 […]

    1961, Book Production Magazine, volumes 73-74, page 47
    1. attributivelawA nominal consideration used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract.

      peppercorn rent

Peppercorn2

proper noun
  1. A surname.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounpungent seasoning from the berry of the common pepper plant of East India; use whole or ground

Similar
pepper
Broader
flavorerflavourerflavoring
Also see
pepper

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishpiporcorn“peppercorn”
  2. Middle Englishpeper corn
  3. Englishpeppercorn

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”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan gra de pebre
  • gra de pebrethe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Chinese Mandarin 胡椒子, 胡椒粒
  • 胡椒子 (hújiāozǐ)the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
  • 胡椒粒 (hújiāolì)the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Dutch peperkorrel
  • peperkorrelthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Esperanto pipro
  • piprothe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Finnish pippuri, pippurinmarja
  • pippurithe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
  • pippurinmarjathe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
  • hitunena small, insignificant quantity
French grain de poivre
  • grain de poivrethe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
German Pfefferkorn
  • Pfefferkornthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Greek πιπερόκοκκος
  • πιπερόκοκκος (piperókokkos)the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Hindi गोलमिर्च
  • गोलमिर्च (golmirc)the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Hungarian borsszem
  • borsszemthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Irish piobarchaor
  • piobarchaorthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Italian grano di pepe
  • grano di pepethe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Latin grānum piperis
  • grānum piperisthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Polish ziarnko pieprzu, ździebko
  • ziarnko pieprzuthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
  • ździebkoa small, insignificant quantity
Romanian boabă de piper
  • boabă de piperthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Russian перец
  • перец (perets)the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Swedish pepparkorn
  • pepparkornthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Tagalog paminta
  • pamintathe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum
Welsh grawn pupur
  • grawn pupurthe seeds of the plant Piper nigrum

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with peppercorn

pornborncornwornwarntornborneswornbournethornhorneunbornrebornmournscornmornadornforlornfreebornWestbourneshornlornmourneleghorn
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

peppercorn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peppercorn

MLA

“peppercorn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peppercorn. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “peppercorn,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peppercorn.

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