Capsicum - Synonyms and Common Names

Synonyms and Common Names

The name given to the Capsicum fruits varies between English-speaking countries.

In Australia, New Zealand and India, heatless species are called "capsicums" while hot ones are called "chilli"/"chillies" (double L). Pepperoncini are also known as "sweet capsicum". The term "bell peppers" is almost never used, although C. annuum and other varieties which have a bell-shape and are fairly hot, are often called "bell chillies".

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the heatless varieties are commonly known simply as "peppers" (or more specifically "green peppers", "red peppers", etc.) while the hot ones are "chilli"/"chillies" (double L) or "chilli peppers".

In the United States and Canada, the common heatless species is referred to as "bell peppers", "sweet peppers", "red/green/etc. peppers", or simply "peppers", while the hot species are collectively called "chile"/"chiles", "chili"/"chilies", or "chili"/"chile peppers" (one L only), "hot peppers", or named as a specific variety (e.g., banana pepper).

In Polish and in Hungarian, the term "papryka" and "paprika" (respectively) is used for all kinds of capsicum peppers (the sweet vegetable, and the hot spicy) as well as for dried and ground spice made from them (named paprika in both U.S. English and Commonwealth English). Also fruit and spice can be attributed as "papryka ostra" (hot pepper) or "papryka słodka" (sweet pepper). The term "pieprz" (pepper) instead means only grained or ground black pepper (incl. its green, white, and red forms) but not capsicum. Sometimes the hot capsicum spice is also called "chilli".

In Italy and the Italian- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, the sweet varieties are called "peperone" and the hot varieties "peperoncino" (literally "small pepper"). In French, capsicum is called "poivron". In German, capsicum is called "Paprika" (which may also refer to bell peppers) or "Chili"; in Dutch, this word is also used exclusively for bell peppers, whereas "chilli" is reserved for powders and hot pepper variants are referred to as "Spaanse pepers" (Spanish peppers). In Switzerland however, the condiment powder made from capsicum is called "paprika" (German language regions) and "paprica" (French and Italian language region).

In Spanish-speaking countries there are many different names for each variety and preparation. In Mexico the term chile is used for "hot peppers" while the heatless varieties are called pimiento (the masculine form of the word for pepper, which is pimienta). Several other countries, such as Chile, whose name is unrelated, Perú, Puerto Rico, and Argentina, use ají. In Spain, heatless varieties are called pimiento and hot varieties guindilla. Other jocular names are given to hot varieties like "alegrías riojanas" (jokes from La Rioja, a province well known for its pepperoni plantions) or "langostinos de Ibarra" (prawns from Ibarra). Also, in Argentina and Spain, the variety C. chacoense is commonly known as "putaparió", a slang expression equivalent to "damn it", probably due to its extra-hot flavour. In Indian English, the word "capsicum" is used exclusively for Capsicum annuum. All other varieties of hot capsicum are called chilli. In northern India and Pakistan, Capsicum annuum is also commonly called "Shimla Mirch" in the local language and as "Kodai Mozhagai" in Tamil which roughly translates to "Umbrella Chilli" due to its appearance. Shimla incidentally is a popular hill-station in India (and "Mirch" means chilli in local languages).

In Japanese, tōgarashi (唐辛子, トウガラシ "Chinese mustard") refers to hot chili peppers, and particularly a spicy powder made from them which is used as a condiment, while bell peppers are called pīman (ピーマン, from the French piment or the Spanish pimiento).