Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
PEPPER
I. noun
Etymology: Middle English peper, from Old English pipor, from Latin piper, from Greek peperi Date: before 12th century
1. either of two pungent products from the fruit of an Indian plant ( Piper nigrum ) that are used chiefly as condiments:, black pepper , white pepper , any of several products similar to pepper that are obtained from plants of the same genus , any of various pungent condiments of plants unrelated to the pepper , any of a genus ( Piper of the family Piperaceae, the pepper family) of tropical mostly jointed climbing shrubs with aromatic leaves,
3. capsicum 1a, the hollow fruit of a pepper that is usually red or yellow when ripe, pepper adjective
II. transitive verb (peppered; peppering)
Date: circa 1500
to hit with or as if with rapid repeated blows,
2. to sprinkle or season with pepper, to shower with or as if with shot or other missiles, to sprinkle or cover as if with pepper , pepperer noun
III. noun
Etymology: probably from 2pep + 2-er
Date: 1943
a baseball practice or warm-up game in which usually several fielders toss the ball a short distance to a single batter who hits it back