dietary

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin diētārium (“book prescribing diet”), from Latin diaeta (“diet”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdaɪət(ə)ɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdaɪəˌtɛɹi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

dietary (plural dietaries)

1. A regulated diet that excludes or constrains certain types of food, especially for health reasons; also, a book or similar setting out such regulations. [from 15th c.]
   • 1917, Aleister Crowley, Moonchild, Weiser, published 2010, page 219:

     [H]er lassitude was such that she hardly cared to feed herself; yet she managed to consume five or six times a normal dietary.

   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 42:

     In general, beets, carrots, and turnips are all of aphrodisiac value in erotic dietary.

2. A prescribed meal plan setting out how the inhabitants of an institution (such as a prison, hospital etc.) should be fed, and on what foods. [from 18th c.]
   • 1837 February, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Treats of Oliver Twist’s Growth, Education, and Board”, in Oliver Twist; […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], published 1838, →OCLC, page 30:

     “Do I understand that he asked for more, after he had eaten the supper allotted by the dietary?” “He did, sir,” replied Bumble.

   • 1921, Montagu Lomax, The Experiences of an Asylum Doctor, London: Allen & Unwin, page 119:

     I cannot speak with any confidence of the pre-war dietary of asylum patients, which no doubt differs widely in different asylums.

Adjective

dietary (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to a prescribed diet; (generally), relating to what a person or animal eats. [from 16th c.]

   If you have any dietary requirements, please inform the kitchen staff.

2. Comprising a food source.
   • 2016 January 21, “Choose Your Weaponry: Selective Storage of a Single Toxic Compound, Latrunculin A, by Closely Related Nudibranch Molluscs”, in PLOS ONE‎^[1], →DOI:

     For example, the antitumour depsipeptide kahalalide F was isolated from the opisthobranch mollusc Elysia rufescens, and is used by both the mollusc and its dietary alga Bryopsis spp.

Derived terms

• dietarily
• dietary fiber
• dietary fibre
• dietary indiscretion
• dietary supplement
• ethnodietary
• nondietary
• palaeodietary
• paleodietary
• predietary

Translations

of, or relating to diet

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: дыеты́чны (dyjetýčny)
• Bengali: পরহেজী (bn) (pôrhezī)
• Bulgarian: диетичен (dietičen)
• Catalan: dietètic
• Danish: diæt-, kost-, diætetisk
• Dutch: diëtair
• Finnish: ruokavalio-, ruoka-, ruokailu-
• French: diététique (fr), alimentaire (fr)
• German: diätisch
• Greek: διατροφικός (el) (diatrofikós)
• Hebrew: תזונתי m (tzunatí)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: étrendi, diétás (hu), étkezési (hu)
• Interlingua: dietari
• Italian: dietetico (it), alimentare (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: dietetyczny (pl)
• Portuguese: dietético (pt)
• Russian: диети́ческий (ru) (dijetíčeskij)
• Spanish: dietético (es), alimentario (es), alimenticio (es)
• Swahili: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: diet-, dietisk
• Turkish: diyetli
• Ukrainian: дієти́чний (dijetýčnyj)
• Vietnamese: chế độ ăn uống
• Zulu: please add this translation if you can

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “dietary”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. (adj.)