Peppered

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. Seasoned with small particles or spices to improve taste
2. Marked by a distribution of varied elements or spots, enriching texture and appearance
3. Covered lightly with ground pepper or spices to enhance flavor ; distributed unevenly with many small spots or marks across a surface

Etymology: "Peppered" is the past form of "pepper," so its history is the verb's history: a word that began as the name of a spice. The root travels a long way. An Indo-Aryan word for long pepper, "pippali," likely drew on a Dravidian source, and it passed through Greek "peperi" and Latin "piper" before reaching English as Old English "piper." The spot sense follows naturally from sprinkling, since something scattered with pepper looks dotted with dark grains. The same name was later given to the capsicum fruit, because its hot taste resembled that of the Old World spice.

Synonyms: spiced, seasoned