type of pepper, by 1957, literally "of Jalapa," from Mexican Spanish Jalapa, place in Mexico, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) Xalapan meaning "sand by the water," from xalli "sand" + atl "water" + -pan "place."
Entries linking to jalapeno
jalopy n.
"battered old automobile," 1924 (early variants include jaloupy, jaloppi, gillopy), of unknown origin; perhaps from Jalapa, Mexico, where many U.S. used cars supposedly were sent (see jalapeno).