monk's pepper

noun

variants or less commonly monk's pepper tree

: chaste tree

Vitex goes by the names chaste tree and monk's pepper. Both stem from its long use in Europe, where it is native, as a medicinal herb to lower the libido …

—Dan Gill, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 28 May 2011

The researchers tested dried extract of the fruit of Vitex agnus castus, a tree found widely in southern Europe and western Asia for centuries. It traditionally was also thought to counteract sexual desire; along with chasteberry, it has also been called monk's pepper tree.

—John O'Neil, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2001

Word History

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined above

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