cayenne
noun
a hot, biting condiment composed of the ground pods and seeds of the pepper Capsicum annuum longum.
cayenne
1 American
[kahy-en, kay-, kahy-en]
/ kaɪˈɛn, keɪ-, ˈkaɪˌɛn /
noun
-
a hot, biting condiment composed of the ground pods and seeds of the pepper Capsicum annuum longum.
-
the long, wrinkled, twisted fruit of this plant.
-
the plant itself.
Cayenne
2
American
[kahy-en, kay-]
/ kaɪˈɛn, keɪ- /
noun
-
a seaport in and the capital of French Guiana.
-
Also called cayenne whist. (lowercase) a variety of whist played with two full packs of 52 cards each.
Cayenne
British
/ keɪˈɛn /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cayenne
1750–60; short for cayenne pepper, formerly cayan < Tupi kyinha, but long associated with Cayenne
Explanation
Cayenne is a hot pepper plant. A cayenne is related to a green bell pepper, but it's much spicier. Most cayenne is eaten as a spice — seeds from the plant are dried and ground, then judiciously sprinkled in dishes like chili and Buffalo wings. In its dry form, cayenne is a bright red powder. The word cayennne was mistakenly associated with the capital of French Guiana, Cayenne, though there's actually no relation between the place and the plant. Instead, the root is the Tupi word kyynha.
Vocabulary lists containing cayenne
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
My House Spice, which I use on pretty much everything, is my mother’s recipe, a Creole and Cajun spice blend with salt, pepper, granulated onion and garlic, cayenne and paprika.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
"They used to have bread with every meal, which is a Mexican thing, and put cayenne pepper on everything. Absolutely everything. They both still spoke Spanish," says Martin.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
Add the chili powder, smoked paprika, oregano and cayenne.
From Salon ● May 19, 2026
Some Rams players reportedly put cayenne pepper in their socks to keep the heat in their feet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2026
“And still somehow when you were a freshman, you ended up with shaving cream in your helmet and cayenne pepper on your jockstrap.”
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
In China—the biggest and potentially the most lucrative market for Cayenne EVs—taxes and import duties effectively double the price of the equivalent ICE-powered model, the Cayenne GTS.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Porsche is famous for its sleek sports cars but the Cayenne SUV and the Macan crossover are its bestselling models.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
At the top-end of the model range, Porsche will soon unveil the new electric Cayenne SUV.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
They show the couple showing off their three dozen luxury cars, including a Mercedes Benz Maybach, a Lincoln Navigator and a Porsche Cayenne.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2025
The distance derived from measurements of the parallax of Mars carried out in 1671 by a French team using simultaneous observations by Jean Richer from Cayenne, in French Guiana, and Cassini from Paris.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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