Guinea \Guin"ea\ (g[i^]n"[-e]), n.
1. A district on the west coast of Africa (formerly noted for
its export of gold and slaves) after which the Guinea
fowl, Guinea grass, Guinea peach, etc., are named.
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2. A gold coin of England current for twenty-one shillings
sterling, or about five dollars, but not coined since the
issue of sovereigns in 1817.
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The guinea, so called from the Guinea gold out of
which it
was first struck, was proclaimed in 1663, and to go
for twenty shillings; but it never went for less
than twenty-one shillings. --Pinkerton.
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Guinea corn. (Bot.) See Durra.
Guinea Current (Geog.), a current in the Atlantic Ocean
setting southwardly into the Bay of Benin on the coast of
Guinea.
Guinea dropper one who cheats by dropping counterfeit
guineas. [Obs.] --Gay.
Guinea fowl, Guinea hen (Zool.), an African gallinaceous
bird, of the genus Numida, allied to the pheasants. The
common domesticated species (Numida meleagris), has a
colored fleshy horn on each aide of the head, and is of a
dark gray color, variegated with small white spots. The
crested Guinea fowl (Numida cristata) is a finer
species.
Guinea grains (Bot.), grains of Paradise, or amomum. See
Amomum.
Guinea grass (Bot.), a tall strong forage grass (Panicum
jumentorum) introduced. from Africa into the West Indies
and Southern United States.
Guinea-hen flower (Bot.), a liliaceous flower (Fritillaria
Meleagris) with petals spotted like the feathers of the
Guinea hen.
Guinea peach. See under Peach.
Guinea pepper (Bot.), the pods of the Xylopia aromatica,
a tree of the order Anonace[ae], found in tropical West
Africa. They are also sold under the name of Piper
aethiopicum.
Guinea plum (Bot.), the fruit of Parinarium excelsum, a
large West African tree of the order Chrysobalane[ae],
having a scarcely edible fruit somewhat resembling a plum,
which is also called gray plum and rough-skin plum.
Guinea worm (Zool.), a long and slender African nematoid
worm (Filaria Medinensis) of a white color. It lives in
the cellular tissue of man, beneath the skin, and produces
painful sores.
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Pepper \Pep"per\ (p[e^]p"p[~e]r), n. [OE. peper, AS. pipor, L.
piper, fr. Gr. pe`peri, pi`peri, akin to Skr. pippala,
pippali.]
1. A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried
berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum.
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Note: Common pepper, or black pepper, is made from the
whole berry, dried just before maturity; white pepper
is made from the ripe berry after the outer skin has
been removed by maceration and friction. It has less of
the peculiar properties of the plant than the black
pepper. Pepper is used in medicine as a carminative
stimulant.
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2. (Bot.) The plant which yields pepper, an East Indian woody
climber (Piper nigrum), with ovate leaves and apetalous
flowers in spikes opposite the leaves. The berries are red
when ripe. Also, by extension, any one of the several
hundred species of the genus Piper, widely dispersed
throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the
earth.
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3. Any plant of the genus Capsicum (of the Solanaceae
family, which are unrelated to Piper), and its fruit;
red pepper; chili pepper; as, the bell pepper and the
jalapeno pepper (both Capsicum annuum) and the
habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense); . These contain
varying levels of the substance capsaicin (C18H27O3N),
which gives the peppers their hot taste. The habanero is
about 25-50 times hotter than the jalapeno according to a
scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. See also
Capsicum and http://www.chili-pepper-plants.com/.
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Note: The term pepper has been extended to various other
fruits and plants, more or less closely resembling the
true pepper, esp. to the common varieties of
Capsicum. See Capsicum, and the Phrases, below.
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African pepper, the Guinea pepper. See under Guinea.
Cayenne pepper. See under Cayenne.
Chinese pepper, the spicy berries of the Xanthoxylum
piperitum, a species of prickly ash found in China and
Japan.
Guinea pepper. See under Guinea, and Capsicum.
Jamaica pepper. See Allspice.
Long pepper.
(a) The spike of berries of Piper longum, an East Indian
shrub.
(b) The root of Piper methysticum (syn. Macropiper
methysticum) of the family Piperaceae. See Kava.
Malaguetta pepper, or Meleguetta pepper, the aromatic
seeds of the Amomum Melegueta, an African plant of the
Ginger family. They are sometimes used to flavor beer,
etc., under the name of grains of Paradise.
Red pepper. See Capsicum.
Sweet pepper bush (Bot.), an American shrub (Clethra
alnifolia), with racemes of fragrant white flowers; --
called also white alder.
Pepper box or Pepper caster, a small box or bottle, with
a perforated lid, used for sprinkling ground pepper on
food, etc.
Pepper corn. See in the Vocabulary.
Pepper elder (Bot.), a West Indian name of several plants
of the Pepper family, species of Piper and Peperomia.
Pepper moth (Zool.), a European moth (Biston betularia)
having white wings covered with small black specks.
Pepper pot, a mucilaginous soup or stew of vegetables and
cassareep, much esteemed in the West Indies.
Pepper root. (Bot.). See Coralwort.
pepper sauce, a condiment for the table, made of small red
peppers steeped in vinegar.
Pepper tree (Bot.), an aromatic tree (Drimys axillaris)
of the Magnolia family, common in New Zealand. See
Peruvian mastic tree, under Mastic.
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