Why are chillies called chillies when they're hot?

Answer 1

A hot pepper is properly called a Chile; and since they originated in Central and South America (including the country Chile), they have been named a chile.

Chili is just a variation in spelling for the fruit, and it means the soup in the US. Most people in the US call the spicy soup made with chiles "chili" and sometimes "chili soup". The word for feeling cold is spelled "chilly" and has nothing to do with chiles (unless you refrigerate them). Although most people in the US refer to chiles as "hot peppers", chiles is more correct (regardless of variety and heat of the chile).

There are several words used that are homonyms of chili (things that sound the same but are spelled differently). Here are some of them:

• Chile is the pepper (spelled with a lower case C).
• Chili is the soup. In other countries besides the US, it can be spelled differently.
• Chilly is what you feel when becoming cold.
• Chile is the country, spelled with a capital C.
• Chilli in many English speaking countries means the pepper.
• Chilli is the proper British spelling for the soup we call chili.
• Chillie is a variation of spelling for the pepper in some UK countries.
• Chilli is also the nickname of a member of the band TLC.
• Chilly can be used to or describe things that are scary, like a chilly movie.

Answer 2

Chili is the native Mexican (Nahuati) name for the plant and it's fruit. The name dates from the 1600s. It just happens to sound like (homophone) the English word chilly, which also dates from the early 1600s, but comes from a Germanic word meaning "to be cold".

Answer 3

Because it derives from the South American Native language (Nahautl, or Aztec) word xilli, which was their name for peppers. The full name is chili con carne which means "meat with peppers".

Answer 4

Because they are hot like the country chillie