Etymology. The term "pepperoni" is a borrowing of peperoni, the plural of peperone, the Italian word for bell pepper. The first use of "pepperoni" to refer to a sausage dates to 1919. In Italian, the word peperoncino refers to hot and spicy peppers.

Is pepperoni named after creator?

Pepperoni comes from the word peperoni which is an Italian word for "bell peppers". The air-dried spicy sausage actually originated in the United States, not Italy. The word came about some time in the late 19th century by Italian-Americans who invented it.

Who came up with pepperoni?

Most people, and rightly so, would have thought pepperoni was born in Italy. Although it is hard to say exactly when it was created, it probably popped up in the early 1900s when Italian butcher shops and pizzerias began to flourish on the streets of a burgeoning Italian-American society.