Veg

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /vɛd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. To spend time idly without exertion, to unwind mentally or physically; the edible part of plants, commonly consumed as food; to exist in a state of minimal activity or effort
2. To remain inactive or take a break from demanding tasks, often involving little thought or movement; any herbaceous plant or its components eaten as nourishment; to be in a passive or sluggish condition
3. To pass time in a state of low mental or physical effort without specific purpose ; a plant or part of a plant eaten as food, especially non-fruit parts like leaves or roots

Etymology: Most English words for food do not begin life in a scientific paper, but "veg" did. In 1948, the American psychologists Robert S. Harper and S. S. Stevens published a paper in the American Journal of Psychology, and the short form appears there as a coinage, a handy label that the authors needed for their work. It is a clipping, shortened from words that already existed, rather than a fresh root built from scratch. The source words are the family of "vegetable," "vegetarian," and "vegetate." Each of these goes back to the Latin "vegetare," meaning to enliven or grow, and "vegetabilis," meaning able to grow or animate. Cutting the word down to its first three letters produced a term that could be used as both a noun and a verb, which is why it works in phrases like "a plate of veg" and "to veg out."

Synonyms: vegetable, plant, greens

Antonyms: meat