vegetarianism
noun
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The Difference Between Vegetarian, Vegan, and Other Diets
The word vegetarian sprouted up in 1839. Fruitarian ("a person who lives on fruit") ripened by 1893. In 1944, vegetarians who consume no animal or dairy products began calling themselves vegans. Then, in 1993, those who eat fish but no other meat chose pesce, the Italian word for "fish," to create the designation pescatarian. In that same year, meatatarian was served up as a word for those whose diet largely includes meat; that word is rare, however, and is usually used in informal and humorous ways, making it the type of fare not included in our dictionaries. Another fairly recent dietary word is flexitarian, a person who follows a mostly vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat or fish.
Examples of vegetarianism in a Sentence
Tanya Sichynsky, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Several years later, Szekely would marry a young Jewish woman from Brooklyn, Deborah, whose own mother was a believer in vegetarianism.
—Tom Teicholz, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
The vegetarianism, that is, not the ethical soapbox speeches.
—David G. Allan, CNN, 27 Nov. 2024
Yet the risk reductions in metabolic diseases associated with sugar rationing in early life are massive, on par with the effects of lifelong vegetarianism or quitting cigarettes.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 31 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Vegetarianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vegetarianism. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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vegetarianism
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