piment
/pi.mɑ̃/
The English phrase "chile pepper" is translated into French as piment.
piment is used to refer to a spicy fruit from a plant in the Capsicum genus used in cooking. You can specify that a chili is spicy or hot by adding the adjective fort after the noun, creating the phrase piment fort. Additionally, the specific variety known as Cayenne pepper is called Piment de Cayenne.
How does it change in a sentence?
piment is a masculine noun. When describing the heat level of the pepper, the adjective fort follows the noun.
How do you pronounce it?
/pi.mɑ̃/
Did you know?
- The word piment is a linguistic relative of the English word 'pigment'. Both words trace back to the Latin 'pigmentum', which originally referred to something used for coloring or staining.
- While piment refers to the spicy variety, French uses a completely different word, poivron, for the mild bell pepper.
- If you call a person pimenté, you are not saying they are covered in chili powder. Instead, you are describing someone with a 'spicy', lively, or even slightly provocative personality.
Examples in context
- Tu aimes les plats épicés ? On peut mettre du piment rouge dans notre recette.Do you like spicy dishes? We can add some red pepper to our recipe.
- Ajoutez du piment dans la sauce.Add some chili pepper to the sauce.
- Ajoute un piment dans la sauce.Add a chile pepper to the sauce.
- Ce piment est vraiment très fort.This chile pepper is really very strong.
- Je préfère manger sans piment.I prefer eating without chile pepper.
Example conversation
Manon and Nathan are cooking a spicy curry together in the kitchen.
- ManonNathan, est-ce qu'il reste du piment ?Nathan, is there any chile pepper left?
- NathanOui, il y en a un dans le frigo.Yes, there is one in the fridge.
- ManonParfait, je vais le couper.Perfect, I am going to cut it.
- NathanFais attention, ce piment est brûlant !Be careful, that chile pepper is burning hot!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry piment, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries piment, CC BY-SA 4.0.
