peppercorn
UK /ˈpɛpəkɔːn/ · US /ˈpɛpɚkɔɹn/ noun, proper noun
Forms peppercorns
- noun The seeds of the pepper plant Piper nigrum, commonly used as a spice, usually ground or crushed.
- noun A small, insignificant quantity; a whit or jot.
- noun (law, attributive) A nominal consideration used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. “peppercorn rent”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
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”).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “peppercorn”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details