Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Noun & Adjective · /ˌvedʒɪˈteəriən/ · a person who does not eat meat; relating to a diet that excludes meat

Definition

A vegetarian is a person who abstains from eating the flesh of animals — including meat, poultry, and typically seafood — and whose diet is instead based on plant foods, dairy products, and eggs. As an adjective, vegetarian describes food, meals, menus, or restaurants that contain no meat: a vegetarian restaurant, a vegetarian option, a vegetarian diet. The word covers a wide range of practice, from those who avoid only red meat to those who exclude all animal flesh.

Origin

Vegetarian was coined in the early nineteenth century, derived from Latin vegetarius — of vegetables or plants — together with the suffix -arian, denoting a person who holds or practises a particular belief. The Vegetarian Society, founded in Britain in 1847, was among the first formal organisations to use the term. Before this coinage, the practice existed under older Latin and Greek philosophical traditions but lacked its own dedicated English word.