pepperoni

P3E1P3P3E1R1O1N1I1
UK/pɛpəˈɹəʊni/US/pɛpəˈɹoʊni/

noun

A spicy salami-style Italian-American sausage made from cured pork and beef seasoned with pepper.

“Yo, Tony, gimme a slice of pepperoni and a coke.”

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounpepperoni (countable and uncountable, plural pepperonis or pepperoni)

plural pepperonis

  1. countableuncountableA spicy salami-style Italian-American sausage made from cured pork and beef seasoned with pepper.

    He gave the dog a treat — a dried up skinny, turdy looking, pepperoni sausage.

    2006, George Galjan, Cops, Donuts, and Murder, page 107
    1 more example

    She and her two best friends are choreographing a number for the talent show; she’s applied to California Institute of the Arts; and she flirts unabashedly with a cute pizza server. (The better to land a couple of extra pepperonis on her slice without an upcharge.)

    2019 May 9, Aisha Harris, “‘Jinn’ Review: A Not So Typical Coming-of-Age Story”, in The New York Times
  2. countableuncountablePizza with only tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni toppings.

    Yo, Tony, gimme a slice of pepperoni and a coke.

    1 more example

    There's far more than just hot dogs to feast on too. The pizzas—gigantic, floppy, with a hyperreal waxy sheen—are mythic. They arrive exclusively in cheese, pepperoni, or supreme—the holy trinity—and will run you an eminently affordable $1.99 for a ridiculously huge wedge-shaped slice.

    2023 June 9, Luke Winkie, “Our Greatest Fast-Food Joint Is Costco”, in Slate, archived from the original on 06 Sep 2023

Origin

  1. Italianpeperoni“bell peppers”
  2. Englishpepperoni

Borrowed from Italian peperoni (“bell peppers”), the plural of peperone (“bell pepper”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بِبَرُونِي
  • بِبَرُونِي (bibarūnī)sausage
Chinese Mandarin 辣肉腸 /辣肉肠, 貝貝羅尼 /贝贝罗尼
  • 辣肉腸 /辣肉肠 (làròucháng)sausage
  • 貝貝羅尼 /贝贝罗尼 (bèibèiluóní)sausage
  • 烤胡椒香腸 /烤胡椒香肠sausage
Finnish pepperoni, pepperoni
  • pepperonisausage
  • pepperonipizza
French pepperoni, pepperoni
  • pepperonisausage
  • pepperonipizza
German Salami, Pfeffersalami
  • Salamisausage
  • Pfeffersalamisausage
  • scharfe Salamisausage
Greek πεπερόνι, σαλαμάκι
  • πεπερόνι (peperóni)sausage
  • σαλαμάκι (salamáki)sausage
  • πικάντικο σαλάμι (pikántiko salámi)sausage
Icelandic pepperóní
  • pepperónísausage
Italian salame piccante
  • salame piccantesausage
Japanese ペパロニ
  • ペパロニ (peparoni)sausage
Korean 페퍼로니
  • 페퍼로니 (pepeoroni)sausage
Norwegian pepperoni
  • pepperonisausage
Polish pepperoni, pepperoni
  • pepperonisausage
  • pepperonipizza
Turkish pepperoni
  • pepperonisausage
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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