Meanings
plural pepperonis
- 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 1071 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 - 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
- Italianpeperoni“bell peppers”
- Englishpepperoni
Borrowed from Italian peperoni (“bell peppers”), the plural of peperone (“bell pepper”).
More words from Italian
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
pepperoni. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pepperoni
“pepperoni.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pepperoni. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pepperoni,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pepperoni.
Source: pepperoni on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.