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piperine

American

[pip-uh-reen, -er-in] / ˈpɪp əˌrin, -ər ɪn /

noun

Chemistry.

a white, crystalline alkaloid, C 1 7 H 1 9 NO 3 , obtained from pepper and other piperaceous plants and also prepared synthetically: used as an insecticide.

piperine British

/ ˈpɪpəˌraɪn, -rɪn /

noun

a crystalline insoluble alkaloid that is the active ingredient of pepper, used as a flavouring and as an insecticide. Formula: C 17 H 19 NO 3

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of piperine

1810–20; < Latin piper pepper + -ine ¹

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.

Plant-based supplements containing quercetin, curcumin, and piperine improved fatigue compared with placebo.

From Science Daily • Jan. 8, 2026

Some commercial supplements are formulated with both curcumin and piperine.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 11, 2023

This layer, along with the surface layers of the seed within, contains the main compound responsible for the spice’s characteristic pungent flavor: piperine.

From Washington Post • Feb. 11, 2022

Regarded as the world's most traded spice, black pepper gets its spicy warmth from a compound called piperine.

From Salon • Jan. 11, 2022

Why should piperine be the poison of all poisons to keep you awake, and morphine the poison of all poisons to send you asleep, although to the chemist these two bodies were of identical composition?

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 643, April 28, 1888 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023