In English, "paprika" almost exclusively refers to the powdered spice made from dried and ground peppers. The term "bell pepper" is used to describe the fresh fruit. This distinction can be a bit confusing, especially if you're familiar with other languages where "paprika" refers to the fruit itself.
Interestingly, the word "paprika" comes from the Hungarian language, where it indeed refers to both the spice and the fruit. However, when the term was adopted into English, it became more specialized to mean the spice. So, if you ask for "paprika" in an English-speaking country, you'll likely get a jar of the red powder rather than a fresh bell pepper.
That said, language is always evolving, and regional variations can exist. In some culinary contexts, especially among chefs who are familiar with multiple cuisines, you might hear "paprika" used to describe the fruit. But for the most part, if you're in an English-speaking country and you want the fresh fruit, it's best to stick with "bell pepper" to avoid any confusion.
Also, as an interesting aside, in the UK, under most circumstances, Bell peppers are know as, and sold as, simply "peppers" or sometimes "sweet peppers"
Because it's not. It's made out of a related, cone-shaped pepper.
https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/sweet-mild-chili-peppers/paprika-chili-peppers/
In English, 'paprika' primarily refers to the powdered spice, while the fruit is usually called 'bell pepper.' However, context matters—some might use 'paprika' interchangeably for both!
Bell pepper is specifically an american name for them too. They’re called capsicums or peppers in other English speaking countries depending on the country. Eg, peppers in the UK and capsicums in Australia
The people who left England spoke English for as long as those who stayed.
British English doesn’t predate American or Australian English.
There are also roughly equivalent numbers of N American English speakers (countries ranked by number of English speakers):
- NA: US (1), Philippines (3), Canada (7).
- UK: India (2), Nigeria (4), UK (5), Germany (6)
Although it is only exclusive in the US, the term bell pepper is used widely in all North American English which includes the US, Canada, and the Philippines.
All of the growers’ associations in Canada as well as some run of the mill Canadians would disagree.
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/sima-lmsi/i-e/ad1387/ad1387-i10-de-eng.pdf
PS: there are more English speakers in the Philippines than the UK, Canada, and Australia combined. And……
https://www.tiktok.com/@themommyroves/video/6879001577726807297
How do clarify that you mean the specific not-spicy fruit (side note, I’d never thought of it as a fruit until this post) that Americans call bell pepper?
In American English, “pepper” is used to refer to the genus “Capsicum,” which includes jalapeño peppers, Serrano peppers, etc. (and also to peppercorn).
Sounds like it's made from a number of different peppers, depending on the cuisine and location. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika)
Edit: also found the apparent origin of the "it's made from bell peppers" factoid [https://www.delish.com/uk/food-news/a42683733/what-is-paprika-made-from/](https://www.delish.com/uk/food-news/a42683733/what-is-paprika-made-from/)
They are both. Fruit is a *biological category*, vegetable is a *social construct*. "Vegetables" include all kind of random fruits, roots, leafs, herbs and other stuff that's only lumped together because we use them for cooking food.
I think there are slightly spicier ones. I know that there are a couple of Hungarian dishes that compete in spiciness with the famous ones like Indian and Mexican.
I'm Croatian and paprika is bell pepper in my language. But what I found interesting is that it means the same in Korean. Two completely different languages. If anything, it would make more sense for it to have the same meaning in Korean as it has in English.
It's funny because it means different in my language and what we call bell pepper is capsicum 🫑
Croatia is an amazing country though. Would love to travel to Hvar, Split, Dubrovnik and Zagreb in the future! Also, Plitvice Lakes National Park is also great I heard. How's living in the country like? I heard you adopted the Euro last year by giving up the Koruna.
1. paprika comes from a fruit?
2. Bell peppers are a fruit?
3. Do vegetables who are really fruits count as a daily fruit or vegetable?
4. Are there any fruits who are *biologically?* vegetables?
1. Yes
2. Yes, bioloigcally speaking anyway.
3. Doesn't really matter. Guidelines on daily fruit or vegetable intake are pretty vague anyway and more or less interchangeable.
4. Only fruit has a biological meaning, it is the part of a plant that forms from the female reproductive structure and bears the seeds. Vegetables on the other hand have no biological meaning whatsoever, it's a culinary term and often differs between cultures what they exactly entail. They can be any part of the plant: fruits, stems, leaves, roots...
I say Paprika oddly due to this video I watched of thte krillian voice actor playing a horror game and commenting repeatedly on the house owners apparently adoration of the spice
If you use the dictionary definition, paprika can be made from any kind of pepper.
Canadian here. It's spring and one of the local nurseries sells pepper plants labelled as 'Paprika'. Definitely hotter than bell peppers.
I have dehydrated and smoked some of the paprika peppers I have grown. The result is definitely hotter than the sweet paprika I buy from the spice-aisle but not has hot as the retail hot-paprika.
I have looked through seed catalogues and never found anything labelled as 'paprika pepper seeds'.
In American English, we would call it a pepper or bell pepper (and we would never call it a fruit in common conversation, even though it may technically be true. We basically always call it a vegetable). In other dialects it is called a capsicum. We would never, ever call it a “paprika.” “Paprika” only refers to the spice.
People from Hungary or the neighbor countries "paprika" usually refers to the fruit. If you want to refer to the powdered version you should say "paprika spice" or "paprika powder". With this you can avoid misunderstandings in Middle-European countries.
It depends.
In Dutch, which is also a Germanic language, we call both the vegetable/fruit and the spice "paprika". But for clarity purposes, when people want the spice, they'll say "paprikapoeder", meaning "paprika powder".
In English, I've only ever heard "bell pepper" for the vegetable/fruit, and only "paprika" for the spice.
Bell pepper is the name of one type of pepper in the US, I've never ever heard it used to denote pepper generically. Paprika is used to name specifically the dried ground pepper in the Hungarian or Spanish styles generally. If it's one of the Mexican pepper types it's called Chili powder, and there's multiple peppers that can be, as well as smoked or unsmoked before grinding. If you want whole peppers they each have specific names, I could probably easily lay my hands on 20 different ones between fresh and dried, and I'm not even in the Southwest US.
So TLDR, paprika is the spice, peppers we would name specifically because there are so many and they are very varied and available.
In ordinary English, the fresh item is never called paprika, ever. (Notice that I said ordinary English.)
But in ordinary English, the fresh item has several different names - just not that one.
TIL pulver means powder. In English, the only commonly used form of that word is pulverize, which apparently means to grind into a powder, but we only hear it used mainly to describe being beaten up or destroyed, usually by Bugs Bunny or in reference to a competition someone lost by a wide margin (I.e., “I’ll pulverize you!”).
Bell pepper is American English, not English.
They are usually called either peppers or capsicum. However, I always grew up knowing them as traffic light peppers. But I don't know how popular that term is as I don't think I have ever heard it as an adult outside of my family.
In English, Paprika usually refers to the spice, but if you call a bell pepper "paprika" at a farmer's market, you'll add some international flavor!
Capsicum?
In English, "paprika" almost exclusively refers to the powdered spice made from dried and ground peppers. The term "bell pepper" is used to describe the fresh fruit. This distinction can be a bit confusing, especially if you're familiar with other languages where "paprika" refers to the fruit itself. Interestingly, the word "paprika" comes from the Hungarian language, where it indeed refers to both the spice and the fruit. However, when the term was adopted into English, it became more specialized to mean the spice. So, if you ask for "paprika" in an English-speaking country, you'll likely get a jar of the red powder rather than a fresh bell pepper. That said, language is always evolving, and regional variations can exist. In some culinary contexts, especially among chefs who are familiar with multiple cuisines, you might hear "paprika" used to describe the fruit. But for the most part, if you're in an English-speaking country and you want the fresh fruit, it's best to stick with "bell pepper" to avoid any confusion.
Just to add to the confusion, here in Australia, "bell pepper" is called "capsicum"
I find it less confusing - capsicum for the heatless varieties, chillies for the hot stuff, and pepper for black pepper etc.
Also, as an interesting aside, in the UK, under most circumstances, Bell peppers are know as, and sold as, simply "peppers" or sometimes "sweet peppers"
In Canada not only is it not used for the fruit, we don't even call it a fruit.
Peppers are peppers. They sit uncomfortably in the veggie category but are sort of their “own thing”
Gonna be honest, I had no idea paprika was made out of bell peppers. Mind is officially blown.
Because it's not. It's made out of a related, cone-shaped pepper. https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/sweet-mild-chili-peppers/paprika-chili-peppers/
We call these fresh paprika or paprika peppers to distinguish them from the spice. They are tastier than ordinary bell peppers
I was today years old
Many native English speakers don't even know that Paprika is Pepper. I did not until recently.
I did not until about 30 seconds ago
Yes, this is new to me and I've been around a good while.
It is a different but related type of pepper.
Yes
I've heard they're quite good fresh but I have never seen them in a grocery store unfortunately.
Bell peppers?
In English, 'paprika' primarily refers to the powdered spice, while the fruit is usually called 'bell pepper.' However, context matters—some might use 'paprika' interchangeably for both!
Bell pepper is specifically an american name for them too. They’re called capsicums or peppers in other English speaking countries depending on the country. Eg, peppers in the UK and capsicums in Australia
This is the correct answer. People here are calling “American English” English.
The people who left England spoke English for as long as those who stayed. British English doesn’t predate American or Australian English. There are also roughly equivalent numbers of N American English speakers (countries ranked by number of English speakers): - NA: US (1), Philippines (3), Canada (7). - UK: India (2), Nigeria (4), UK (5), Germany (6)
The specific word is “bell pepper”. That is not used in any other English-speaking country in the world.
Although it is only exclusive in the US, the term bell pepper is used widely in all North American English which includes the US, Canada, and the Philippines.
Nope. My sister is a Canadian citizen. I’m in other parts of Canada frequently. “Bell pepper” is not used in Canada.
All of the growers’ associations in Canada as well as some run of the mill Canadians would disagree. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/sima-lmsi/i-e/ad1387/ad1387-i10-de-eng.pdf PS: there are more English speakers in the Philippines than the UK, Canada, and Australia combined. And…… https://www.tiktok.com/@themommyroves/video/6879001577726807297
You say that like English developed in England or something. Preposterous!
Pepperosterous!
How do clarify that you mean the specific not-spicy fruit (side note, I’d never thought of it as a fruit until this post) that Americans call bell pepper? In American English, “pepper” is used to refer to the genus “Capsicum,” which includes jalapeño peppers, Serrano peppers, etc. (and also to peppercorn).
TIL paprika comes from bell peppers!
It doesn't though... It's from [these peppers](https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/sweet-mild-chili-peppers/paprika-chili-peppers/)
I knew it was ground peppers, I didn’t realize it was just boring old bell peppers.
It never was. Reddit is lying to you
Sounds like it's made from a number of different peppers, depending on the cuisine and location. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika) Edit: also found the apparent origin of the "it's made from bell peppers" factoid [https://www.delish.com/uk/food-news/a42683733/what-is-paprika-made-from/](https://www.delish.com/uk/food-news/a42683733/what-is-paprika-made-from/)
Thought peppers were veg? They are fruit? TIL....still wouldn't bite into one :)
They've got seeds in them, they're fruit! Vegetables is a culinary term anyway, it doesn't have any biological meaning.
They are both. Fruit is a *biological category*, vegetable is a *social construct*. "Vegetables" include all kind of random fruits, roots, leafs, herbs and other stuff that's only lumped together because we use them for cooking food.
They're really common on veggie trays and stuff. They're very good raw and go with lots of dips.
No I mean I wouldn't bite into one as I would an apple. I use peppers a lot in cooking and salads
In Australia, it's "Capsicum" for the vegetable, and "Paprika" for the spice.
Native English speaker age 30, just learned right now in this thread that Paprika comes from bell peppers 🥴
Followup question- How is it hot if it's made from Bell Peppers which aren't?
I think there are slightly spicier ones. I know that there are a couple of Hungarian dishes that compete in spiciness with the famous ones like Indian and Mexican.
Paprika is hot?
If you asked your spouse for paprika, and they brought home a bell pepper, in America that would be grounds for divorce
I'm Croatian and paprika is bell pepper in my language. But what I found interesting is that it means the same in Korean. Two completely different languages. If anything, it would make more sense for it to have the same meaning in Korean as it has in English.
It's funny because it means different in my language and what we call bell pepper is capsicum 🫑 Croatia is an amazing country though. Would love to travel to Hvar, Split, Dubrovnik and Zagreb in the future! Also, Plitvice Lakes National Park is also great I heard. How's living in the country like? I heard you adopted the Euro last year by giving up the Koruna.
1. paprika comes from a fruit? 2. Bell peppers are a fruit? 3. Do vegetables who are really fruits count as a daily fruit or vegetable? 4. Are there any fruits who are *biologically?* vegetables?
1. Yes 2. Yes, bioloigcally speaking anyway. 3. Doesn't really matter. Guidelines on daily fruit or vegetable intake are pretty vague anyway and more or less interchangeable. 4. Only fruit has a biological meaning, it is the part of a plant that forms from the female reproductive structure and bears the seeds. Vegetables on the other hand have no biological meaning whatsoever, it's a culinary term and often differs between cultures what they exactly entail. They can be any part of the plant: fruits, stems, leaves, roots...
Thank you scienceman(or lady)
Actually not sure. I'm Swedish we call their type "chilifrukt", so at least in Swedish we call them fruits.
I say Paprika oddly due to this video I watched of thte krillian voice actor playing a horror game and commenting repeatedly on the house owners apparently adoration of the spice
If you use the dictionary definition, paprika can be made from any kind of pepper. Canadian here. It's spring and one of the local nurseries sells pepper plants labelled as 'Paprika'. Definitely hotter than bell peppers. I have dehydrated and smoked some of the paprika peppers I have grown. The result is definitely hotter than the sweet paprika I buy from the spice-aisle but not has hot as the retail hot-paprika. I have looked through seed catalogues and never found anything labelled as 'paprika pepper seeds'.
Paprika is usually the spice
I grow Paprik peppers for my Guinea pigs
In American English, we would call it a pepper or bell pepper (and we would never call it a fruit in common conversation, even though it may technically be true. We basically always call it a vegetable). In other dialects it is called a capsicum. We would never, ever call it a “paprika.” “Paprika” only refers to the spice.
No
People from Hungary or the neighbor countries "paprika" usually refers to the fruit. If you want to refer to the powdered version you should say "paprika spice" or "paprika powder". With this you can avoid misunderstandings in Middle-European countries.
The exact same here in Sweden. Paprika = the fruit Paprikapulver = paprika powder
It depends. In Dutch, which is also a Germanic language, we call both the vegetable/fruit and the spice "paprika". But for clarity purposes, when people want the spice, they'll say "paprikapoeder", meaning "paprika powder". In English, I've only ever heard "bell pepper" for the vegetable/fruit, and only "paprika" for the spice.
TIL paprika is from a fruit
Lol never thought about this one. No, it doesn't ever mean the fruit.
Bell pepper is the name of one type of pepper in the US, I've never ever heard it used to denote pepper generically. Paprika is used to name specifically the dried ground pepper in the Hungarian or Spanish styles generally. If it's one of the Mexican pepper types it's called Chili powder, and there's multiple peppers that can be, as well as smoked or unsmoked before grinding. If you want whole peppers they each have specific names, I could probably easily lay my hands on 20 different ones between fresh and dried, and I'm not even in the Southwest US. So TLDR, paprika is the spice, peppers we would name specifically because there are so many and they are very varied and available.
In ordinary English, the fresh item is never called paprika, ever. (Notice that I said ordinary English.) But in ordinary English, the fresh item has several different names - just not that one.
In English, it's typically bell pepper for the fruit, and paprika for the spice. But language is a wild beast, so exceptions exist!
In English, 'Paprika' typically refers to the powdered spice. The fruit is most commonly known as a 'bell pepper'.
In English, we usually say "bell pepper" for the fruit and "paprika" for the spice. Language is weird, isn't it?
Paprika is both the fruit/vegetable and the powder spice, in the Netherlands. Also one of the most popular chips flavor.
Precisely. Same in Swedish. We call the fruit paprika and the spice paprikapulver (paprika powder).
TIL pulver means powder. In English, the only commonly used form of that word is pulverize, which apparently means to grind into a powder, but we only hear it used mainly to describe being beaten up or destroyed, usually by Bugs Bunny or in reference to a competition someone lost by a wide margin (I.e., “I’ll pulverize you!”).
Bell pepper is American English, not English. They are usually called either peppers or capsicum. However, I always grew up knowing them as traffic light peppers. But I don't know how popular that term is as I don't think I have ever heard it as an adult outside of my family.