pebre (Spanish)
Where does "pebre" come from?
The Spanish word 'pebre' traces its origins back to the Sanskrit 'pippali,' which originally referred to long pepper. This term traveled through Middle Persian and Ancient Greek before being adopted into Latin as 'piperem,' eventually evolving into its current form in Spanish, Catalan, and Occitan as these languages diverged.
Full etymology tree
- pebre (Spanish), 'pepper (powdered condiment)'
- inherited piper (Latin), 'pepper'
- borrowed πέπερι (péperi) (Ancient Greek), 'pepper (plant of the family Piperaceae)'
- inherited पिप्पलि (pippali) (Sanskrit), 'berry'
- derived पिप्पल (píppala) (Sanskrit), 'berry (especially of the sacred fig)'
- inherited पिप्पलि (pippali) (Sanskrit), 'berry'
- borrowed πέπερι (péperi) (Ancient Greek), 'pepper (plant of the family Piperaceae)'
- inherited piper (Latin), 'pepper'
Ancestors
- piper (Latin)
- πέπερι (Ancient Greek)
- पिप्पलि (Sanskrit)
Cognates and doublets
- pebre (Catalan)
- pepper (English)
- poivre (French)
- pepe (Italian)
- pebre (Occitan)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris