Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Chilli |
ChilliNoun1. Very hot and finely tapering pepper of special pungency. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "chilli" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1843. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Food & Agriculture | Any of various large capsicum fruits that contain little if any capsaicin, are characterized by mild flavor-usu. have distinctly thick walls. . . called also bell pepper, green pepper. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The chilli pepper (also spelled chili pepper, chile) is the fruit of the plant Capsicum of the nightshade (Solanaceae) family. Cultivated since prehistoric times in Peru and Mexico, it was discovered in the Caribbean by Columbus and named a "pepper" because of its similarity with the Old World peppers of the Piper genus. Diego Alvarez Chanca, a physician on Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, brought the first chilli peppers to Spain, and first wrote about their medicinal effects in 1494.
The most common species of chilli peppers are: Capsicum annuum, which includes many common varieties such as bell peppers and jalapeños; Capsicum frutescens, which includes cayenne and tabasco peppers; Capsicum chinense, which includes the hottest peppers such as habaneros and Scotch bonnets; Capsicum pubescens, which includes the South American rocoto peppers; and Capsicum baccatum, which includes the chiltepin.
Though there are only a few commonly used species, there are far more cultivars and different ways preparing chilli peppers that have different common names for culinary use. Green and red bell peppers, for example, are the same cultivar of C. annuum, with the green ones being immature. In the same species are the jalapeño, the chipotle, which is a smoked jalapeño, the poblano, ancho (which is a dried poblano), New Mexico, Anaheim, Serrano, and others. Jamaicans, Scotch bonnets, and habaneros are common varieties of C. chinense. Species C. frutescens appears as chiles de arbol, aji, pequin, tabasco, cayenne, cherry peppers, and others.
The fruit is eaten cooked or raw for its fiery hot flavor. Indian, Szechuan and Thai cuisines are particularly associated with the chilli pepper, although the plant was unknown in Asia until Europeans introduced it there.
Well-known dishes with a strong chilli flavor are salsa, Mexican chile con carne and Indian vindaloo. Chili powder is a spice made of the dried ground chiles, usually of the Mexican "Ancho" variety, but with small amounts of cayenne added for heat. Bottled hot sauces such as Tabasco are made from chillis such as the cayenne (not, oddly, from tabasco peppers), which may also be fermented.
The substance that gives chillis their heat is called capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide). It causes pain and inflammation if consumed to excess, and can even burn the skin on contact in high concentrations (habanero peppers, for example, are routinely picked with gloves). It is also the primary ingredient in pepper spray, which is used as a defensive weapon. The "heat" of chilli peppers is measured in Scoville unitss. Bell peppers rank at zero Scoville units, jalapeños at 3000-6000 Scoville units, and habaneros at 300,000 Scoville units. The record for the highest number of Scoville units in a pepper would go to the Red Savina Habanero, measuring 577,000 units!
Since birds don't have the same sensitivity to capsaicin as mammals, chilli peppers are a favorite food of many birds living in the chilli peppers' natural range (along with many birds living in captivity). The flesh of the peppers provides the birds with nutritious meal rich in vitamin C. In return, the seeds of the peppers are distributed by the birds, as they drop the seeds while eating the pods or the seeds pass through the digestive tract unharmed. This relationship is theorized to have promoted the evolution of the protective capsaicin.
External Link
Illustrated Hot Peppers
Note on Spelling
- Chili seems to be the commonest spelling worldwide, although "chilli" is seen about half the time in the UK.
- Chile is the third favourite spelling worldwide and in the UK, but is universal in Spanish-speaking regions.
- This vegetable is not related to the country Chile, which is not a producer of chilli peppers.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Chilli pepper."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Rosanda "Chilli" Thomas is the singer of the band TLC.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Rozonda Thomas."
Synonyms: ChilliSynonyms: chile (n), chili (n), chili pepper (n), chilly (n). (additional references) |
| Synonym by domain: peppering (food & agriculture, biology & biotechnology). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I read in the 'Wossuuuup' magazine that Chilli never says no to a fan in need (Sister, Sister; writing credit: Leonard Dick; Carrie Honigblum) | |
Lyrics | When Miss Chilli came to relay (Diggin' On You; performing artist: TLC) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
 |  |
| "Chilli peppers 2" by Gavin Whitmore Commentary: "..." | "Crispy" by Graeme Simpson Commentary: "1 whole crisp/potato chip on a plain background. If you're interested it was a Sweet Thai Chilli flavour snack." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| "Chilli" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 70.18% of the time. "Chilli" is used about 171 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (plural) | 70.18% | 120 | 29,358 |
| Noun (singular) | 16.96% | 29 | 64,444 |
| Noun (proper) | 8.19% | 14 | 93,893 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 4.68% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Total | 100.00% | 171 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "chilli": chilli pepper ♦ quick chilli bean bake. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "chilli": chilli-bean, Chilli-con-barmy, chilli-con-carne, chilli-flavoured. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
chilli.com gas light | 4 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "chilli"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Bavarian | paprika. (various references) | |
Chinese | 辣椒 (Chili). (various references) | |
Dutch | Spaanse peper (paprika), peper (pepper). (various references) | |
Esperanto | kapsiko. (various references) | |
Finnish | chilipippuri. (various references) | |
French | poivron (chillies), piment rouge (chili), piment doux (chillies), piment (chillies), paprika (chillies). (various references) | |
Hungarian | csilipaprika (chili). (various references) | |
Italian | chili, peperoncino rosso (paprika), peperoncino (hot pepper). (various references) | |
Korean | 고추 (Chili, Pepper). (various references) | |
Manx | chillee. (various references) | |
Papiamen | promèntè. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | illichay.(various references) | |
Polish | papryka (paprika). (various references) | |
Portuguese | pimenta-de-cheiro, pimenta-caiena, pimentões. (various references) | |
Spanish | ají. (various references) | |
Swedish | chili (chili). (various references) | |
Turkish | kırmızıbiber (capsicum, cayenne, cayenne pepper, chili, red pepper). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | перець стручковий, перець червоний гіркий. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | ớt khô. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Capsicum annuum linnaeus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "chilli": chillier, chillies, chilliest, chillily, chilliness, chillinesses, chilling, chillingly. (additional references) | |
Words containing "chilli": overchilling, prechilling, schilling, schillings. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-h-i-i-l-l" | |
-1 letter: chili, chill, lichi. | |
-2 letters: hili, hill, lich. | |
-3 letters: chi, hic, ich, ill. | |
-4 letters: hi, li. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-h-i-i-l-l" | |
+2 letters: chillier, chillies, chillily, chilling. | |
+3 letters: chilblain, childlier, childlike, chilliest, lyophilic, schilling, windchill. | |
+4 letters: chilblains, childishly, childliest, chilliness, chillingly, chinchilla, chiselling, cliquishly, halophilic, helicoidal, lipophilic, lithologic, phallicism, philatelic, schillings, ticklishly, windchills. | |
+5 letters: chinchillas, clinchingly, homicidally, homiletical, ithyphallic, laccolithic, lickerishly, methicillin, phallicisms, prechilling, unchildlike, whimsically. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Digital Art 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
