Vegetarian

English

Etymology

From vegetable +‎ -arian; popularized following 1847 foundation of British Vegetarian Society. (Alternatively, it may derive from vegetus +‎ -arian.)

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛɹi.ən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /vɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛəɹi.ən/, /ˌvɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛəɹɪən/
• Rhymes: -ɛəɹiən

Noun

Vegetarian (usually uncountable, plural Vegetarians)

1. Obsolete spelling of vegetarian.
   • 1886, Henry Stephens Salt, A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays, page 7:

     “I must preface this essay by the confession that I am myself a Vegetarian, and that I mean to say all the good I can of the principles of Vegetarianism.”

Usage notes

• This capitalization only applied to the noun; the adjective took the lowercase vegetarian.

Anagrams

• renavigate