A tropical climbing plant from Southeast Asia that produces small peppery berries used as a spice and in traditional medicine and smoking preparations.
From Arabic 'qababa' or Javanese origin, borrowed into European languages through medieval spice trade. The word entered English through French and Dutch merchants who traded in spices from Indonesia and Java.
Cubebs were once as valuable and sought-after as black pepper—medieval Europeans called them 'Java pepper' and used them in everything from medicine to cigarettes! The decline of cubebs shows how trade routes and fashions change over centuries.
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