peppy

the word 'peppy' is a modern american english formation from the early 20th century. its core, 'pep', is a clipped form of 'pepper', a spice long associated with pungency and liveliness. this metaphorical extension from a physical spice to a quality of spirited energy gave rise to the noun 'pep' meaning vigor. the addition of the productive adjective-forming suffix '-y', of old english origin, directly creates the meaning "full of pep." thus, the journey from an ancient indian plant name to a slang term for energy illustrates how language creatively condenses and repurposes words to describe human vitality.

Structure: pep (energy) + y (adjective suffix) pep (origin: shortened from 'pepper', itself from old english pipor, latin piper, greek péperi, ultimately of indian origin; functional role: root conveying the sense of energy or vigor) + y (origin: old english -ig; functional role: suffix forming adjectives meaning "characterized by" or "full of").