Pep·per n.
 1. A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum.
 Note: ☞ Common pepper, or black pepper, is made from the whole berry, dried just before maturity; white pepper is made from the ripe berry after the outer skin has been removed by maceration and friction.  It has less of the peculiar properties of the plant than the black pepper.  Pepper is used in medicine as a carminative stimulant.
 2. Bot. The plant which yields pepper, an East Indian woody climber (Piper nigrum), with ovate leaves and apetalous flowers in spikes opposite the leaves. The berries are red when ripe. Also, by extension, any one of the several hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth.
 3. Any plant of the genus Capsicum (of the Solanaceae family, which are unrelated to Piper), and its fruit; red pepper; chili pepper; as, the {bell pepper} and the {jalapeno pepper} (both Capsicum annuum) and the {habanero pepper} (Capsicum chinense); .  These contain varying levels of the substance capsaicin (C18H27O3N), which gives the peppers their hot taste.  The habanero is about 25-50 times hotter than the jalapeno according to a scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912.  See also Capsicum and http://www.chili-pepper-plants.com/.
 Note: ☞ The term pepper has been extended to various other fruits and plants, more or less closely resembling the true pepper, esp. to the common varieties of Capsicum. See Capsicum, and the Phrases, below.
 African pepper, the Guinea pepper. See under Guinea.
 Cayenne pepper. See under Cayenne.
 Chinese pepper, the spicy berries of the Xanthoxylum piperitum, a species of prickly ash found in China and Japan.
 Guinea pepper. See under Guinea, and Capsicum.
 Jamaica pepper. See Allspice.
 Long pepper. (a) The spike of berries of Piper longum, an East Indian shrub. (b) The root of Piper methysticum (syn. Macropiper methysticum) of the family Piperaceae.  See Kava.
 Malaguetta pepper, or Meleguetta pepper, the aromatic seeds of the Amomum Melegueta, an African plant of the Ginger family.  They are sometimes used to flavor beer, etc., under the name of grains of Paradise.
 Red pepper. See Capsicum.
 Sweet pepper bush Bot., an American shrub (Clethra alnifolia), with racemes of fragrant white flowers; -- called also white alder.
 Pepper box or Pepper caster, a small box or bottle, with a perforated lid, used for sprinkling ground pepper on food, etc.
 Pepper corn. See in the Vocabulary.
 Pepper elder Bot., a West Indian name of several plants of the Pepper family, species of Piper and Peperomia.
 Pepper moth Zool., a European moth (Biston betularia) having white wings covered with small black specks.
 Pepper pot, a mucilaginous soup or stew of vegetables and cassareep, much esteemed in the West Indies.
 Pepper root. Bot.. See Coralwort.
 pepper sauce, a condiment for the table, made of small red peppers steeped in vinegar.
 Pepper tree Bot., an aromatic tree (Drimys axillaris) of the Magnolia family, common in New Zealand. See Peruvian mastic tree, under Mastic.
 Guin·ea n.
 1. A district on the west coast of Africa (formerly noted for its export of gold and slaves) after which the Guinea fowl, Guinea grass, Guinea peach, etc., are named.
 2. A gold coin of England current for twenty-one shillings sterling, or about five dollars, but not coined since the issue of sovereigns in 1817.
 The guinea, so called from the Guinea gold out of which it
 was first struck, was proclaimed in 1663, and to go for twenty shillings; but it never went for less than twenty-one shillings.   --Pinkerton.
 Guinea corn. Bot. See Durra.
 Guinea Current Geog., a current in the Atlantic Ocean setting southwardly into the Bay of Benin on the coast of Guinea.
 Guinea dropper one who cheats by dropping counterfeit guineas. [Obs.] --Gay.
 Guinea fowl, Guinea hen Zool., an African gallinaceous bird, of the genus Numida, allied to the pheasants. The common domesticated species (Numida meleagris), has a colored fleshy horn on each aide of the head, and is of a dark gray color, variegated with small white spots. The crested Guinea fowl (Numida cristata) is a finer species.
 Guinea grains Bot., grains of Paradise, or amomum. See Amomum.
 Guinea grass Bot., a tall strong forage grass (Panicum jumentorum) introduced. from Africa into the West Indies and Southern United States.
 Guinea-hen flower Bot., a liliaceous flower (Fritillaria Meleagris) with petals spotted like the feathers of the Guinea hen.
 Guinea peach. See under Peach.
 Guinea pepper Bot., the pods of the Xylopia aromatica, a tree of the order Anonaceæ, found in tropical West Africa. They are also sold under the name of Piper aethiopicum.
 Guinea plum Bot., the fruit of Parinarium excelsum, a large West African tree of the order Chrysobalaneæ, having a scarcely edible fruit somewhat resembling a plum, which is also called gray plum and rough-skin plum.
 Guinea worm Zool., a long and slender African nematoid worm (Filaria Medinensis) of a white color. It lives in the cellular tissue of man, beneath the skin, and produces painful sores.
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 Guinea pepper
      n 1: West African plant bearing pungent peppery seeds [syn: grains
           of paradise, Guinea grains, melagueta pepper, Aframomum
           melegueta]
      2: tropical west African evergreen tree bearing pungent
         aromatic seeds used as a condiment and in folk medicine
         [syn: negro pepper, Xylopia aethiopica]