a many-seeded fleshy fruit of a tropical plant of the nightshade family, used as a vegetable
any of a genus of tropical plants and shrubs of the nightshade family bearing fruit with many seeds and fleshy walls, e.g. the hot pepper and sweet pepper: genus Capsicum
a fruit of this plant, which comes in a variety of colours and is used as a vegetable, for flavouring, etc; a pepper
[from the Latin genus name, perhaps from Latin capsa case, chest, from capere to take]