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Glite Dictionary
Piper cubeba

Piper cubeba

9.9
A tropical vine that makes strong, pepper-like fruits used as a spice and in traditional medicine
  • noun
  • /ˈpaɪpər ˈkuːbɛbə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Piper cubeba
  • The essential oil extracted from Piper cubeba is prized in both culinary and medicinal applications.

Examples

  • Historically, Piper cubeba was traded from Java to the Middle East and Europe as a valuable spice.

  • Some traditional remedies include Piper cubeba fruits to help treat respiratory problems.

  • I bought some Piper cubeba for cooking.

  • The Piper cubeba plant is native to Indonesia.

  • Historically, Piper cubeba was traded from Java to the Middle East and Europe as a valuable spice.

  • Some traditional remedies include Piper cubeba fruits to help treat respiratory problems.

  • The essential oil extracted from Piper cubeba is prized in both culinary and medicinal applications.

Synonyms

cubeb
vsPiper cubeba
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical plant that produces spicy berries used for cooking and medicine

is the specific vine noted for pungent, pepper-like fruits used as spice and medicine
cubeb vine
vsPiper cubeba
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical vine that makes peppery berries used as a spice and medicine

focuses on the same plant but emphasizes pungent, pepper-like fruit and traditional medicinal use
Java pepper
vsPiper cubeba
8.7

A spice from a tropical shrubby vine that adds a hot, fruity taste to food

names the same vine but highlights culinary use rather than medicinal use

Surface Forms

Piper cubeba singular
Piper cubebas plural

Morphology

Piper + cubeba

The element 'Piper' clearly signals the pepper genus, so a learner who recognises that could infer this is a type of pepper/plant; however 'cubeba' is a specific epithet (not a transparent English word) and the detailed sense (a pungent spice used in cooking and medicine) is not deducible from the parts alone without knowledge of taxonomic naming. Because part of the meaning (that it is a pepper plant) is recoverable but the specific culinary/medicinal sense and the epithet are not, this is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Piper cubeba may come from its parts: Piper is the old Latin word for 'pepper' and cubeba was a trader's word for a 'small berry'. Because the little fruits look and taste like pepper, traders called them that and the name stuck, so today Piper cubeba refers to the pepper-like spice made from those berries.