peppered

Peppered is the past participle of pepper and functions as an adjective in English. In culinary contexts, it describes food that has been seasoned with pepper, especially black pepper, and can refer to dishes such as peppered steak or other preparations where pepper is a primary spice. The phrase “peppered with” is also used metaphorically to indicate something spread or scattered across another thing, for example, a field peppered with wildflowers or a city peppered with historic sites.

In biology and natural history, the term is notable for the peppered moth (Biston betularia). It is most closely associated with industrial melanism, a classic case study in evolutionary biology. In 19th-century England, widespread soot pollution darkened tree bark, favoring the melanic carbonaria form of the moth. As pollution declined and lichens and bark lightened again, the lighter form increased in prevalence in many populations. This rapid shift provided evidence for natural selection acting in real time.

Beyond culinary and evolutionary usage, peppered appears in everyday language to indicate dispersion or distribution of elements, as in describing something peppered with questions, features, or instances. The term thus covers both concrete uses in cuisine and more abstract applications in science and metaphor.