CAPSICUM

noun Etymology: New Latin, perhaps from Latin capsa Date: 1588 1. any of a genus ( Capsicum ) of tropical American herbs and shrubs of the nightshade family widely cultivated for their many-seeded usually fleshy-walled berries, pepper 3b, an oleoresin derived from the fruit of some ~s that contains capsaicin and related compounds and is used medicinally especially as a topical pain reliever