Dictionary

peppercorn en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɛpɚkɔɹn/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpɛpəkɔːn/ (UK)

Etymology

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”).

Meanings

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:
3. (attributive) A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot. ▸ A nominal consideration used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract.
   • peppercorn rent

Forms

Deriveds

peppercorn rent · peppercorny · pink peppercorn · peppercorn hair

Translations (29)

ro boabă de piper (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · eo pipro (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · fi pippuri (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · fi pippurinmarja (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · fi hitunen (a small, insignificant quantity) · ga piobarchaor (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · khb ᦘᦲᧅᦓᦾᧉ (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · jpa פלפלא (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · nl peperkorrel (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · pdt Päpakuarn (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · la grānum piperis (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · pl ziarnko pieprzu (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · ca gra de pebre (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · hi गोलमिर्च (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · tmr פלפלתא (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · de Pfefferkorn (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · as গোল মৰিচ (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · hu borsszem (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · tl paminta (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · cy grawn pupur (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · ru перец (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · el πιπερόκοκκος (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · cmn 胡椒粒 (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · fr grain de poivre (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · it grano di pepe (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · sv pepparkorn (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · pl ździebko (a small, insignificant quantity) · bcl paminta (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum) · cmn 胡椒子 (the seeds of the plant Piper nigrum)