Cayenne comes from a Tupi word for hot pepper — the spelling was later reshaped by the city of Cayenne, but the pepper named itself before the Europeans named the place.
A hot red pepper or the powder made from it, derived from dried and ground capsicum peppers. Used as a spice and condiment worldwide.
From French cayenne, earlier quiynne, from Tupi kyynha (hot pepper), a language of indigenous Brazil. The spelling was influenced by association with the city of Cayenne, capital of French Guiana, though the word predates the European naming of the city Key roots: kyynha (Tupi: "hot pepper").
Cayenne pepper is named from a Tupi indigenous word, not from the city of Cayenne in French Guiana — though the spelling was later influenced by the place name. The Tupi people of Brazil were among the first to cultivate hot peppers, and their language contributed several food words to European languages, including "tapioca," "cashew," and "jaguar." Cayenne peppers typically rate 30,000–50,000 Scoville heat units — hot enough to be used medicinally as a topical pain