pimento
pimento Lexical Profile
pimento Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A mild, sweet red pepper, typically heart-shaped, frequently used as a garnish, stuffed into green olives, or blended into a seasoned cheese spread.
"She served a platter of crackers topped with homemade pimento cheese for the appetizer."
Caribbean The dried, unripe berry of a tropical American tree, used as a culinary spice; allspice.
"The recipe for the traditional jerk marinade calls for ground pimento and scotch bonnet peppers."
Caribbean The tropical evergreen tree that produces allspice berries, native to the Greater Antilles and Central America.
"The aromatic wood of the pimento tree is traditionally used to smoke meats in Jamaican cuisine."
Word Nuance & Usage
Often spelled interchangeably with 'pimiento'. In American English, it almost exclusively refers to the sweet red pepper, while in Jamaican and Caribbean contexts, it frequently refers to the allspice tree or its berries.
• Rhymes for pimento
Word Origin & Etymology
From Portuguese 'pimenta' or Spanish 'pimiento', both deriving from Latin 'pigmentum' meaning 'pigment' or 'plant dye', reflecting the historical use of spices for coloring.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.