Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Vegan for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "vegan" — both a noun and an adjective, pronounced /ˈviː.ɡən/, with the stress on "vee".
Narrator: A vegan is a person who avoids all animal products, and as an adjective it describes food or goods made without them.
Narrator: In plain English, vegan means no meat, fish, eggs, dairy, or honey — nothing that comes from an animal.
Narrator: The word was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson, who took the first three and last two letters of "vegetarian".
Narrator: He wanted a fresh word for those who went further than vegetarians by also avoiding eggs and dairy.
Narrator: From a small movement, the word spread worldwide, and today "vegan" appears on menus and product labels everywhere.
Narrator: Its meaning has broadened too: a vegan lifestyle can include clothing, cosmetics, and goods, not just food.
Narrator: In tone it's neutral and widely understood, though it can carry strong feeling in debates about diet and ethics.
Narrator: So remember: vegan means free of all animal products — a young word for a clear, growing choice.
Speaker A: I've gone vegan for a month to see how I feel — no meat, no dairy, no eggs.
Speaker B: Oh, properly vegan then, not just vegetarian?
Speaker A: Exactly. That's the common mix-up — vegetarians still eat eggs and cheese.
Speaker B: Right, but a vegan avoids all animal products entirely.
Speaker A: Yes. I had a brilliant vegan curry last night — coconut milk instead of cream.
Speaker B: Lovely. And "vegan" works as an adjective too, like "vegan chocolate".
Speaker A: True. People also forget it covers more than food — there's vegan leather.
Speaker B: Good point. A vegan lifestyle can include clothes and cosmetics as well.
Speaker A: Close words? "Plant-based" is similar but a bit softer and less strict.
Speaker B: Exactly — "plant-based" focuses on food, while "vegan" is the fuller commitment.
Speaker A: So I'd say "I'm vegan" for the lifestyle, "this is vegan" for the product.
Speaker B: Perfect — one short word that covers both the person and the choice.
Speaker B: Let's use "vegan" as a clear keyword for building a friendly food app with AI.
Speaker A: So "vegan" keeps the whole project focused on plant-based meals?
Speaker B: Exactly. Start with the data:
Prompt: Design a database schema for a vegan recipe app. Include recipes, ingredients, tags like vegan and gluten-free, and clear relations with useful indexes.
Speaker B: Tagging recipes "vegan" makes the model build real, filterable data.
Speaker A: Nice. What about the look of the app?
Speaker B: Try this UI prompt:
Prompt: Build a recipe dashboard for vegan dishes with a side panel of categories, a top navigation bar, and a fresh green colour theme that feels healthy and clean.
Speaker A: So it feels wholesome. And finding recipes?
Speaker B: Keep it practical:
Prompt: Add a filter so users can show only vegan recipes, search by ingredient, and sort by cooking time, with clear, friendly labels on every control.
Speaker A: I like how usable that is.
Speaker B: For a full build, stay minimal:
Prompt: Build a small vegan meal-planner app with three pages: a recipe list, a single recipe view, and a weekly plan, all sharing one navigation bar.
Speaker A: Could it suggest swaps for me?
Speaker B: Yes:
Prompt: Add a helper that suggests vegan substitutes for animal ingredients, like plant milk for dairy, and explains each swap in one short, friendly line.
Speaker A: So "vegan" keeps every prompt focused and clear.
Speaker B: Exactly — one memorable word that shapes the whole app.
Vegan — meaning in Arabic & definition More V courses GL Dictionary