veg·e·tate

[vej-i-teyt]
verb (used without object), veg·e·tat·ed, veg·e·tat·ing.
1.
to grow in, or as in, the manner of a plant.
2.
to be passive or unthinking; to do nothing: to lie on the beach and vegetate.
3.
Pathology. to grow, or increase by growth, as an excrescence.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin vegetātus (past participle of vegetāre to quicken, enliven), equivalent to veget(us) lively (orig. past participle of vegēre to give vigor) + -ātus -ate1

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Vegetate is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
vegetate (ˈvɛdʒɪˌteɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  to grow like a plant; sprout
2.  to lead a life characterized by monotony, passivity, or mental inactivity
3.  pathol (of a wart, polyp, etc) to develop fleshy outgrowths
 
[C17: from Late Latin vegetāre to invigorate]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

vegetate
1605, "to grow as plants do," perhaps a back-formation from vegetation, or from L. vegetatus, pp. of vegetare "to enliven, to animate" (see vegetable). Sense of "to lead a dull, empty, or stagnant life" is from 1740.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Use of greenhouse propagated wetland plants versus live transplants to vegetate constructed or created wetlands.
In effect, they were forced to vegetate or to do something different.
Re-vegetate closed roads with plant species beneficial to sage grouse.
He said that after the area is left to re-vegetate, there will be no need to go
  back in the area.
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