vegetable

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛd͡ʒtəbəl/, /ˈvɛd͡ʒətəbəl/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛd͡ʒətəbəl/, /ˈvɛd͡ʒtəbəl/, /ˈvɛt͡ʃtəbəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

• aromatic vegetable
• green vegetable bug
• hydrolyzed vegetable protein
• leaf vegetable
• multivegetable
• nonvegetable
• regrowing vegetable
• root vegetable
• sea vegetable
• vegeburger
• vegetable box
• vegetable carbon
• vegetable fat
• vegetable fern
• vegetable garden
• vegetable ivory
• vegetable juice
• vegetable kingdom
• vegetable lamb
• vegetable leather
• vegetable marrow
• vegetable mercury
• vegetable oil
• vegetable rennet
• vegetable sheep
• vegetable soup
• vegetable sulfur
• vegetably
• veggie

 

Related terms

• vegan
• vegetarian
• vegetate
• vegetation

 

Translations

any plant

• Arabic: نَبَات‎ (ar) m (nabāt), بَقْلَة‎ f (baqla)
• Armenian: բույս (hy) (buys)
• Bashkir: үҫемлек (üθemlek)
• Bikol Central: gulay
• Catalan: vegetal (ca) m
• Chechen: орамат (oramat)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 植物 (zh) (zhíwù)

• Czech: zelenina (cs)
• Dutch: gewas (nl) n, plant (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: vegetaĵo, kreskaĵo (eo), planto (eo)
• Finnish: kasvi (fi)
• French: végétal (fr) m
• Galician: vexetal (gl) m
• Georgian: მცენარე (mcenare)
• German: Gewächs (de) n
• Greek: φυτό (el) n (fytó)

  Ancient: φυτόν n (phutón)

• Gujarati: શાકભાજી (śākbhājī)
• Hindi: सब्ज़ी (hi) (sabzī)
• Hungarian: növény (hu)
• Icelandic: grænmeti (is) n
• Interlingua: vegetal
• Italian: vegetale (it) m
• Japanese: 植物 (ja) (しょくぶつ, shokubutsu)
• Karakhanid: ياشْ‎ (yāš)

• Korean: 푸성귀 (puseonggwi)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سەوزە‎ (ku) (sewze)

  Northern Kurdish: sebze (ku) sebze (ku)

• Latin: planta (la) f
• Latvian: augs m, stāds m
• Lithuanian: augalas (lt) m
• Macedonian: расте́ние n (rasténie)
• Maltese: ħaxix m
• Occitan: vegetal (oc) m
• Old Turkic: 𐰖𐰀𐰽‎ (y¹as¹ /yāš/)
• Persian: سبزی‎ (fa) (sabzi)
• Portuguese: vegetal (pt) m
• Romanian: vegetală (ro) f
• Russian: расте́ние (ru) n (rasténije)
• Santali: ᱫᱟᱨᱮ (dare)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: би̑љка f

  Roman: bȋljka (sh) f

• Slovak: zelenina (sk)
• Spanish: vegetal (es) m
• Swahili: mmea (sw)
• Swedish: planta (sv) c, växt (sv) c
• Turkish: bitki (tr)
• Ukrainian: росли́на (uk) f (roslýna)
• Uyghur: ئۆسۈملۈك‎ (ösümlük)

a plant raised for some edible part of it

• Afrikaans: groente (af)
• Albanian: perime (sq), zarzavate (sq)
• Arabic: خُضَر‎ f pl (ḵuḍar), خُضَار‎ m pl (ḵuḍār), خَضْرَاوَات‎ f pl (ḵaḍrāwāt), بَقْلَة‎ f (baqla)

  Egyptian Arabic: خضار‎ m pl (xuḍār)

  Moroccan Arabic: خضرة‎ (ḵuḍra)

• Armenian: բանջարեղեն (hy) (banǰarełen), բանջար (hy) (banǰar)
• Assamese: পাচলি (pasoli)
• Asturian: verdura f
• Azerbaijani: tərəvəz (az)
• Bashkir: йәшелсә (yäšelsä)
• Belarusian: гаро́дніна f (haródnina), агаро́дніна f (aharódnina)
• Bengali: সবজি (śôbji)
• Bikol Central: gulay
• Breton: legumaj (br)
• Brunei Malay: gulai, sayur
• Bulgarian: зеленчу́к m (zelenčúk)
• Burmese: ဟင်းသီးဟင်းရွက် (my) (hang:si:hang:rwak)
• Capiznon: kautanan
• Catalan: verdura (ca) f, hortalissa (ca) f, (pod vegetable) llegum (ca) m
• Cebuano: utanon
• Chamorro: Gollai siha
• Chechen: хасстом (χasstom)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蔬菜 (zh) (shūcài), 青菜 (zh) (qīngcài)

• Cornish: losowen gegin f, lojowen-dhebri f
• Czech: zelenina (cs)
• Danish: grøntsag (da) c, grønsag (da) c
• Dutch: groente (nl) f, gewas (nl) n
• Esperanto: legomo (eo)
• Estonian: köögivili, aedvili
• Finnish: vihannes (fi)
• French: légume (fr) m
• Galician: vexetal (gl) m, verdura (gl) f
• Georgian: ბოსტნეული (bosṭneuli)
• German: Gemüse (de) n
• Greek: λαχανικό (el) n (lachanikó)

  Ancient: λάχανον n (lákhanon)

• Greenlandic: grøntsagi
• Hebrew: יֶרֶק‎ (he) (yérek)
• Hiligaynon: kautanan
• Hindi: सब्ज़ी (hi) f (sabzī)
• Hungarian: zöldség (hu)
• Icelandic: grænmeti (is) n
• Ido: legumo (io)
• Ilocano: nateng
• Indonesian: sayuran (id), sayur-sayuran (id) pl
• Interlingua: legumine
• Irish: glasra (ga) m
• Italian: verdura (it) f
• Ivatan: rakarakanen
• Japanese: 野菜 (ja) (やさい, yasai), 青物 (ja) (あおもの, aomono), ベジタブル (bejitaburu)
• Javanese: janganan (jv), sayuaran
• Judeo-Moroccan Arabic: כְדְרָא‎
• Kalenjin: ngiek
• Kapampangan: gule
• Kazakh: көкөніс (kk) (kökönis)
• Khmer: បន្លែ (km) (bɑnlɛɛ)
• Kinaray-a: ulutanon
• Korean: 채소 (ko) (chaeso), 야채 (ko) (yachae)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سەوزە‎ (ku) (sewze)

• Kyrgyz: жашылча (ky) (caşılça)
• Ladino: zarzavat
• Lak: ахънилсри (aqnilsri)

• Lao: ຜັກ (lo) (phak), ຕາໂກ້ງ (tā kōng), ສາກ (sāk)
• Latin: holus n
• Latvian: dārzenis (lv) m
• Lithuanian: daržovė (lt) f
• Low German: Gemöös n
• Luhya: chinyenyi
• Luxembourgish: Geméis n
• Macedonian: зеленчук m (zelenčuk)
• Malay: sayuran, sayur-sayuran pl
• Maltese: ħaxix m
• Maori: huawhenua
• Marathi: भाजी f (bhājī)
• Minangkabau: sayuaran, sayua-sayuaran pl
• Mongolian: хүнсний ногоо (hünsnij nogoo), ургамал (mn) (urgamal)
• Navajo: chʼil daadánígíí
• Norman: légùeume f (continental Norman), lédgeunme f (Jersey), légeume f (Guernsey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: grønnsak (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: grønsak f

• Occitan: legum (oc)
• Pangasinan: pising
• Persian: سبزی‎ (fa) (sabzi)
• Polish: warzywo (pl) n, jarzyna (pl) f
• Portuguese: verdura (pt) f, hortaliça (pt) f, legume (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਸਬਜ਼ੀ (sabzī)
• Romanian: legumă (ro), legume (ro) f pl
• Russian: о́вощ (ru) m (óvošč)
• Rusyn: зеленина f (zelenyna) (Carpathian Rusyn), желєнява f (željenjava) (Panonian Rusyn)
• Sanskrit: चुच्चु (sa) (cuccu)
• Scottish Gaelic: glasraich f, luibh-gàraidh f, luiseanachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: по̀врће n pl

  Roman: pòvrće (sh) n pl

• Sindhi: سبزي‎ (sabzi)
• Sinhalese: එළවළු (si) (eḷawaḷu)
• Slovak: zelenina (sk)
• Slovene: zelenjava (sl) f
• Somali: khudaarta
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: zelenina f

• Southern Sama: sasayulan pl
• Spanish: verdura (es) f, legumbre (es) m, hortaliza (es) f
• Swahili: mboga (sw)
• Swedish: grönsak (sv) c
• Tagalog: gulay
• Tajik: сабзавот (tg) (sabzavot)
• Tatar: яшелчә (tt) (yaşelçä)
• Thai: พืชผัก (pʉ̂ʉt-pàk), ผัก (th) (pàk)
• Tibetan: བཞེས་ཚལ (bzhes tshal)
• Turkish: sebze (tr), zerzevat (tr), yeşilce
• Turkmen: gök önüm
• Uab Meto: utan, utnin pl
• Ukrainian: о́воч (uk) m (óvoč)
• Urdu: سبزی‎ f (sabzī)
• Uyghur: كۆكتات‎ (köktat)
• Uzbek: sabzavot (uz)
• Vietnamese: rau (vi)
• Volapük: härbat (vo)
• Waray-Waray: utan
• Welsh: llysieuyn (cy) m
• West Frisian: griente (fy) c
• Xhosa: umfuno, imifuno pl
• Yiddish: גרינס‎ n (grins)
• Zazaki: zerzawat n
• Zhuang: byaek, byaekheu

edible part of such a plant

• Bashkir: йәшелсә (yäšelsä)
• Belarusian: гародніна pl (haródnina)
• Bikol Central: gulay
• Chechen: хасстом (χasstom)
• Esperanto: legomo (eo)
• Finnish: vihannes (fi)
• French: légume (fr) m
• Gamilaraay: gawaarraa
• Greek: λαχανικό (el) n (lachanikó)

  Ancient: λάχανον n (lákhanon)

• Hebrew: יֶרֶק‎ (he) (yérek)
• Japanese: 野菜 (ja) (やさい, yasai)
• Kalenjin: ngiek
• Korean: 나물 (ko) (namul), 채소 (ko) (chaeso)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: holus n

• Latvian: dārzeņi (lv) m pl
• Luhya: chinyenyi
• Malayalam: പച്ചക്കറി (ml) (paccakkaṟi)
• Mongolian: хүнсний ногоо (hünsnij nogoo)
• Navajo: naniseʼ yidánígíí
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: grønnsak (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: grønsak f

• Ojibwe: gitigaanens
• Persian: سبزینه‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: legume (pt) m
• Swahili: mboga (sw)
• Swedish: grönsak (sv) c
• Thai: ผัก (th) (pàk)
• Turkish: et (tr)
• Tuvan: ногаа (nogaa)
• Zhuang: byaek

a person whose brain has been damaged

• Catalan: vegetal (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 植物人 (zh) (zhíwùrén)

• Danish: grøntsag (da) c, grønsag (da) c
• Dutch: plant (nl) m
• Finnish: vihannes (fi)
• French: légume (fr) m
• German: Dahinvegetierende m or f
• Greek: φυτό (el) n (fytó)
• Hebrew: צֶמַח‎ (he) m (tzémaẖ)
• Interlingua: vegetal
• Italian: vegetale (it) m

• Japanese: 植物人間 (shokubutsu ningen)
• Korean: 식물 인간 (singmul in-gan)
• Latvian: dārzenis (lv) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: grønnsak (no) m

  Nynorsk: grønnsak m

• Polish: warzywo (pl) n
• Portuguese: vegetal (pt) m
• Romanian: legumă (ro) f
• Russian: о́вощ (ru) m (óvošč)
• Spanish: vegetal (es) m
• Tagalog: lantang gulay
• Turkish: bitki (tr)
• Ukrainian: овоч (uk) m (ovoč)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Basque: ^{(please verify)} lekazi (eu), ^{(please verify)} barazki, ^{(please verify)} landare
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} legomo (eo)
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} ירק‎ (he), ^{(please verify)} צמח‎ (he)

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} sayur (id), ^{(please verify)} sayur-mayur
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} verdura

Adjective

vegetable (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to plants.
   • 1882, Thomas Hardy, chapter I, in Two on a Tower. A Romance. [...] In Three Volumes, volume I, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, […], OCLC 654408264, page 1:

     On an early winter afternoon, clear but not cold, when the vegetable world was a weird multitude of skeletons through whose ribs the sun shone freely, a gleaming landau came to a pause on the crest of a hill in Wessex.

2. Of or relating to vegetables.

Translations

of or relating to plants

• Basque: landare-
• Catalan: vegetal (ca)
• Dutch: planten-, plantaardig (nl)
• Esperanto: legoma
• Finnish: kasvi-
• French: végétal (fr)
• German: pflanzlich (de)
• Greek: φυτο- (fyto-)
• Interlingua: vegetal

• Italian: vegetale (it)
• Macedonian: расти́телен m (rastítelen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vegetabilsk

  Nynorsk: vegetabilsk

• Polish: roślinny (pl)
• Portuguese: vegetal (pt)
• Romanian: vegetal (ro) m or n
• Spanish: vegetal (es)
• Ukrainian: росли́нний (uk) (roslýnnyj)

of or relating to vegetables

• Dutch: groente-
• Finnish: kasvis-
• French: légumier (fr)
• German: Pflanzen- (de), Gemüse- (de)
• Greek: φυτο- (fyto-)

  Ancient: λαχανηρός (lakhanērós)

• Interlingua: leguminose
• Japanese: 野菜の (yasai no), 植物の (shokubutsu no), ベジタブルな (bejitaburu-na) (colloquial), 菜〜 (sai-), 野菜〜 (yasai-), 植物〜 (shokubutsu-)
• Macedonian: зеле́нчуков (zelénčukov)
• Polish: jarzynowy (pl), warzywny (pl)
• Portuguese: leguminoso
• Russian: овощно́й (ru) (ovoščnój)

Further reading

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