capsicum

cap·si·cum   (kāp'sĭ-kəm)    n.   Any of various tropical American pepper plants of the genus Capsicum, especially any of the numerous cultivated forms of the species C. annuum and C. frutescens. The fruit of any of these plants, especially the dried pungent types used as a condiment and in medicine. [New Latin Capsicum, genus name, perhaps from Latin capsa, box (from its podlike fruit).]

Main Entry: cap·si·cum
Pronunciation: 'kap-si-k&m
Function: noun
1 capitalized : a genus of tropical herbs and shrubs ofthe nightshade family (Solanaceae) widely cultivated for their many-seeded usually fleshy-walled berries
2 : any plant of the genus Capsicum called also pepper
3 : the dried ripe fruit of some capsicums (as C. frutescens) used as a gastric and intestinal stimulant