pep

Etymology

It is a clipping from English pepper,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} which had been used in the figurative sense "spirit, energy" since at least 1847.^[5][4] Barnhart compares the figurative use of ginger.^[4] The word arose in American English.^[4][8][9] The OED notes that a derivation from pepsin has also been suggested, by Mencken in 1945.^[2] Pepper itself goes back through Old English pipor to Latin piper, from Ancient Greek πέπερι (péperi).^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Energy and high spirits, liveliness: 1908, in the Washington Post, according to the OED and Merriam-Webster.^[2][12] Barnhart and Etymonline date it from 1912.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb followed at once: intransitive pep up, to become lively or cheer up, is recorded from 1910, and transitive pep up, to fill someone or something with energy, from 1912;^[2][12] Barnhart and Etymonline give 1925.^[4][5] Compounds came in quickly: a pep rally, a meeting to raise enthusiasm, from 1915,^[5] and a pep talk from 1926;^[5][4] the pep pill, a stimulant drug, appears in American college slang in 1937.^[4] The adjective peppy is first found in 1922, in Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt.^[4] The word is still marked as informal or colloquial.^[8][4]

Timeline

• 1847 – pepper in the figurative sense of spirit, energy.^[5][4]
• 1908 – noun, energy, liveliness.^[2][12]
• 1910 – intransitive pep up, to become lively.^[2]
• 1912 – transitive pep up, to invigorate.^[2][12]
• 1915 – pep rally.^[5]
• 1922 – peppy, in Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt.^[4]
• 1926 – pep talk.^[5][4]
• 1937 – pep pill.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lively energy and high spirits; vigour: The new coach brought some pep to the team.^[13][12][2]

Verb

1. pep up: to fill with energy or liveliness; to invigorate or cheer up: A short walk pepped her up.^[13][12][2]
2. pep up, intransitive: to become livelier; to perk up.^[2]

Word family

• pepful
• peppy
• pep talk
• pep pill
• pep rally

Related words

• pepper

Usage notes

The capitalized PEP is an acronym: in Britain, for a personal equity plan, a tax-advantaged way of buying shares introduced in 1986 and replaced by the ISA in 1999, and in medicine, for post-exposure prophylaxis (1981).^[2][13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins