Vegetarian

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Pronunciation: /vɛ.d͡ʒɪˈtɛə.ɹi.ən/

Definitions

1. A person who does not eat meat, fish, or poultry, typically consuming only plant-based foods
2. A person who abstains from consuming meat, fish, or poultry while often relying on fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts for sustenance
3. An individual who avoids meat, fish, and poultry, and usually follows a diet rich in plant-derived foods and alternative protein sources

Etymology: The word "vegetarian" grew out of "vegetable," which in the early 1800s had a sense that now seems strange: a plant or anything that grows like one. The suffix "-arian," borrowed through Latin from the same kind of word-forming pattern seen in "humanitarian" and "agrarian," marks a person who follows a particular practice or belief. Put together, the term described someone whose diet was built on plants rather than flesh. The word took off after the founding of the British Vegetarian Society in 1847, which gave the idea an organized name and public face. Before that, people who avoided meat were often described with looser phrases, so the society's adoption of the term helped fix it in common use.

Synonyms: herbivore, plant-eater, vegan, vegetable eater

Antonyms: carnivore, meat-eater