different between vegetate vs vegetable

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vegetatum, past participle of vegeto (“I enliven, I arouse”)

Verb

vegetate (third-person singular simple present vegetates, present participle vegetating, simple past and past participle vegetated)

1. (of a plant) To grow or sprout.
2. (of a wart etc) To spread abnormally.
3. (informal) To live or spend a period of time in a dull, inactive, unchallenging way.

Related terms

• vegetable

Translations

Esperanto

Adverb

vegetate

1. present adverbial passive participle of vegeti

Italian

Verb

vegetate

1. second-person plural present indicative of vegetare
2. second-person plural imperative of vegetare
3. feminine plural of vegetato

Latin

Verb

veget?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of veget?

English

Etymology

From Middle English vegetable, from Old French vegetable, from Latin veget?bilis (“able to live and grow”), derived from veget?re (“to enliven”). Displaced Old English wyrt (“herb, vegetable, plant, crop, root”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?v?d??t?b?l/, /?v?d???t?b?l/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /?v?d???t?b?l/, /?v?d??t?b?l/, /?v?t??t?b?l/

Noun

vegetable (plural vegetables)

1. Any plant.
   • 1837, The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal (volume 23, page 222)

     That he might ascertain whether any of the cloths of ancient Egypt were made of hemp, M. Dutrochet has examined with the microscope the weavable filaments of this last vegetable.

2. A plant raised for some edible part of it, such as the leaves, roots, fruit or flowers, but excluding any plant considered to be a fruit, grain, herb, or spice in the culinary sense.

   Synonyms: veg, veggie

3. The edible part of such a plant.

   Synonyms: veg, veggie

4. (figuratively, derogatory) A person whose brain (or, infrequently, body) has been damaged so that they cannot interact with the surrounding environment; a person in a persistent vegetative state.

   Synonym: cabbage

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

vegetable (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to plants.
2. Of or relating to vegetables.

Translations

Further reading

• vegetable on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• vegetable (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia