What does aji mean?
Aji is a noun denoting a chili pepper, originally a word of the Taíno people of the Caribbean that passed into Spanish and then into English, where it survives chiefly in the vocabulary of Latin American cuisine. In its narrowest sense it refers to peppers of the species Capsicum baccatum, notably aji amarillo, a golden-orange Peruvian chili prized for its fruity heat, and aji panca, a mild, smoky dried variety. More broadly, across Spanish-speaking regions aji serves as a general term for any hot pepper, much as 'chili' does in English. The word appears most often in recipes, menus, and food writing, typically attached to a specific variety name. Its connotations are warm and culinary rather than technical, evoking the bright, aromatic flavors of Peruvian and Andean cooking. For cooks and readers interested in world cuisines, aji is a useful word precisely because it names peppers that have no single common English equivalent.
nounAji is a chili pepper of South American origin, especially the Capsicum baccatum varieties such as aji amarillo, widely used in Peruvian and other Latin American cuisines. The word is also used more generally in Spanish-speaking regions to mean any chili pepper.
- A South American chili pepper, particularly varieties of Capsicum baccatum such as aji amarillo, used in Latin American cooking.
- In Spanish-speaking usage, any chili pepper generally.
"The ceviche gets its gentle heat from aji amarillo rather than fiery habanero."
"She stirred aji amarillo paste into the cream sauce for a fruity, medium heat."
"In much of the Spanish Caribbean, cooks simply call any hot pepper an aji."
The anglicized plural adds -s; in fully Spanish contexts the form remains ají.
"The market stall sold fresh ajis by the basket."
The word 'aji' traveled straight out of the extinct Taíno language of the Caribbean — the same lost tongue that gave us 'hurricane' and 'barbecue'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of aji
Aji comes from the Taíno language of the Caribbean, where it was the native word for the chili pepper long before European contact. Spanish colonists adopted the term directly, and it spread through Spanish-speaking America as the standard word for hot peppers. English later borrowed it from Spanish, largely through exposure to Latin American cooking. Aji thus shares its Taíno origin with other borrowings that entered European languages via Spanish, including barbecue, hurricane, hammock, and canoe.
How aji is actually used
In English-language food writing, aji usually appears as part of a compound name identifying a specific variety, such as aji amarillo or aji panca. It carries a culinary, somewhat specialist register and is most often encountered on menus and in recipes rather than everyday speech.
Easily confused with aji
Hajji refers to a Muslim who has completed the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, while aji is a chili pepper; the two words merely resemble each other in spelling and sound.