Where does “non-veg” come from?
non-veg (English) comes from English veg, from English vegetable, from Middle English vegetable, from Old French vegetable, from Latin vegetabilis, from Latin vegeto, from Latin vegetus, from Latin vegeo — lively, awake; strong.
Ancestry of “non-veg”, step by step
non-veg traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English veg
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | veg | vegetarian; vegetable; to vegetate; to engage in... |
| 2 | English | vegetable | Any plant; A plant raised for some edible part of... |
| 3 | Middle English | vegetable | — |
| 4 | Old French | vegetable | — |
| 5 | Latin | vegetabilis | animating, enlivening, vivifying; able to produce... |
| 6 | Latin | vegeto | I arouse, enliven, quicken, animate, invigorate;... |
| 7 | Latin | vegetus | enlivened, lively, animated, vigorous, active,... |
| 8 | Latin | vegeo | I move, excite, quicken, arouse; I am lively or... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | wegeō | to be active, lively |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | wegejō | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | woǵ-éye- | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | weǵ- | lively, awake; strong |