vegetables definition | Dictionary.com

veg⋅e⋅ta⋅ble

[vej-tuh-buh

l, vej-i-tuh-]

–noun

1.	any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower.

2.	the edible part of such a plant, as the tuber of the potato.

3.	any member of the vegetable kingdom; plant.

4.	Informal. a person who is so severely impaired mentally or physically as to be largely incapable of conscious responses or activity.

5.	a dull, spiritless, and uninteresting person.

–adjective

6.	of, consisting of, or made from edible vegetables: a vegetable diet.

7.	of, pertaining to, or characteristic of plants: the vegetable kingdom.

8.	derived from plants: vegetable fiber; vegetable oils.

9.	consisting of, comprising, or containing the substance or remains of plants: vegetable matter; a vegetable organism.

10.	of the nature of or resembling a plant: the vegetable forms of Art Nouveau ornament.

11.	inactive; inert; dull; uneventful: a vegetable existence.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME (adj.) < LL vegetābilis able to live and grow, equiv. to vegetā(re) to quicken (see vegetate ) + -bilis -ble

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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veg·e·ta·ble (věj'tə-bəl, věj'ĭ-tə-)

1. A plant cultivated for an edible part, such as the root of the beet, the leaf of spinach, or the flower buds of broccoli or cauliflower.
2. The edible part of such a plant.
3. A member of the vegetable kingdom; a plant.
Offensive Slang One who is severely impaired mentally and physically, as by brain injury or disease.
One who is regarded as dull, passive, or unresponsive.

adj.

Of, relating to, or derived from plants or a plant.
Suggestive of or resembling a plant.
Growing or multiplying like plants.

[From Middle English, living and growing as plants do, from Old French, from Medieval Latin vegetābilis, from Late Latin, enlivening, from Latin vegetāre, to enliven, from vegetus, lively, from vegēre, to be lively; see weg- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" contains many striking phrases and images, but perhaps most puzzling to modern readers is one in this promise from the speaker to his beloved: "Had we but world enough, and time . . . /My vegetable love should grow/Vaster than empires and more slow." One critic has playfully praised Marvell for his ability to make one "think of pumpkins and eternity in one breath," but vegetable in this case is only indirectly related to edible plants. Here the word is used figuratively in the sense "having the property of life and growth, as does a plant," a use based on an ancient religious and philosophical notion of the tripartite soul. As interpreted by the Scholastics, the vegetative soul was common to plants, animals, and humans; the sensitive soul was common to animals and humans; and the rational soul was found only in humans. "Vegetable love" is thus a love that grows, takes nourishment, and reproduces, although slowly. Marvell's 17th-century use illustrates the original sense of vegetable, first recorded in the 15th century. In 1582 we find recorded for the first time the adjective use of vegetable familiar to us, "having to do with plants." In a work of the same date appears the first instance of vegetable as a noun, meaning "a plant." It is not until the 18th century that we find the noun and adjective used more restrictively to refer specifically to certain kinds of plants that are eaten.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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vegetable (věj'tə-bəl) Pronunciation Key

A plant that is cultivated for an edible part, such as the leaf of spinach, the root of the carrot, or the stem of celery.
An edible part of one of these plants. See Note at fruit.

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