pimiento

plant cultivar, Capsicum annuum
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/plant/pimiento
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: pimento
Also called:
pimento

pimiento, (Capsicum annuum), any of various mild peppers in the nightshade family (Solanaceae). The term pimiento, from the Spanish for “pepper,” is applied to several cultivars of Capsicum annuum that possess a distinctive flavour but lack pungency. Those include the European paprikas, from which the spice of the same name is made, and the cherry peppers commonly used to stuff Spanish green olives and to flavour pimiento cheese. The name “pimento” is also used for the unrelated allspice tree (Pimenta dioica).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.