The word ''pepper'' derives from [[Old English]] ''pipor'', [[Latin]] ''piper'', and {{lang-el|πέπερι}}.<ref name="OED1913_pepper">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Pepper|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] (OED)|year=1913|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99996/page/n949/mode/1up|access-date=2023-04-28|publication-place=Oxford, UK|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|edition=1 Corrected re-issue|volume=7 N–Poy |page=663|language=en}}</ref> The Greek likely derives from [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] ''pippali'', meaning "long pepper".<ref name="PTSrinivasaIyengar1912">{{Cite book |title=History of the Indian people. Life in ancient India in the age of the mantras |last=Srinivasa Iyengar |first=P. T. |author-link=P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar |publisher=Srinivasa Varadachari & Co. |year=1912 |location=Madras |pages=8 |language=en |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofindianp00srinrich/page/8/mode/1up?q=pepper |oclc=613210854}}</ref> [[Sanskrit]] ''pippali'' shares the same meaning.<ref name="OED1913_pepper">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Pepper|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] (OED)|year=1913|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99996/page/n949/mode/1up|access-date=2023-04-28|publication-place=Oxford, UK|edition=1 Corrected re-issue|volume=7 N–Poy |page=663|language=en}}</ref>
In the 16th century, people began using ''pepper'' to also mean the [[New World]] [[chili pepper]] (genus ''[[Capsicum]]''), which is not closely related.{{r|"OED1913_pepper"|at=2b}}
