Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

pimento is a name used for allspice and Jamaica pepper. Ayto (1993) explains that:

Latin pigmentum meant first and foremost ‘colouring matter’ (it has given English pigment). But it also came to be used for a ‘spiced drink’ (English borrowed it with this meaning too, in the 13th century, in the form of piment), hence for any ‘spice’ and in particular for ‘pepper’. From the Latin root was descended Spanish pimiento ‘pepper’, which was borrowed into English in the 17th century as pimento and used first for ‘cayenne pepper’, then for ‘allspice’ and, most recently (in the twentieth century), as a synonym of pimiento. Pimiento is another name for the red sweet pepper or bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) and also denotes the slivers of red pepper marinated in oil which are used for stuffing olives.