The Etymology of Cayenne
Cayenne is one of those words whose modern spelling tells a misleading story. The pepper itself came to Europe in the 16th century from Brazil, where the Tupi-speaking peoples called it kyinha (variously spelled quiynia, quiinia, kyynha by early Portuguese and French traders). Portuguese and French sailors carried the pepper and the word back, and through several spelling reshapings — cayan, kian, cayanne — the English form cayenne settled in by around 1750. By that date the city of Cayenne in French Guiana had become a colonial port, and English speakers naturally assumed the pepper was named for the city. The pepper actually had its name a century before the city became prominent, and the resemblance is a coincidence reinforced by English orthography. So cayenne is, like cocoa, chocolate, and tobacco, an indigenous American word that travelled into European languages. The plant Capsicum annuum itself originated in Mexico and Central America before spreading across the tropics.