In Australia, New Zealand and India, heatless species are called “capsicums” while hot ones are called “chilli/chillies” (double L). The term “bell peppers” is rarely used, usually in reference to C. annuum and other varieties which look like a “capsicum” or bell but are fairly hot.
In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada, the heatless varieties are called “peppers”, “sweet peppers” or “capsicums” (or “green peppers,” “red peppers,” etc) while the hot ones are “chilli/chillies” (double L) or “chilli peppers”.
In the United States, the common heatless species is referred to as “bell peppers,” “sweet peppers,” “red/green/etc peppers,” or simply “peppers”, while the hot species are collectively called “chile/chiles,” “chili/chilies,” or “chili/chile peppers” (one L only), “hot peppers”, or named as a specific variety (e.g., banana pepper). In many midwestern regions of the United States the Sweet Bell Pepper is commonly called a mango. With the modern advent of fresh tropical fruit importers exposing a wider latitude of individuals to the tropical fruit variety of the mango, this usage is becoming archaic. However many menus still call a stuffed bell pepper a mango.
The name “pepper” came into use because the plants were hot in the same sense as the condiment black pepper, Piper nigrum. But there is no botanical relationship with this plant, nor with Sichuan Pepper.
In Spanish-speaking countries there are many different names for each variety and preparation. In Mexico the term chile is used for “hot peppers” while the heatless varieties are called pimiento (masculine form of the word for pepper which is pimienta). Several other countries, such as Chile, whose name is unrelated, Perú, and Argentina, use ají. In Spain, heatless varieties are called pimiento and hot varieties guindilla.
In Indian English, the word “capsicum” is used exclusively for bell pepper. All other varieties of chili peppers are called chilli. In northern India and Pakistan, bell pepper is also commonly called “Shimla Mirch” in the native languages. Shimla incidentally is a popular hill-station in India (and “Mirch” means chilli in native languages)
