Where does “vegetable” come from?
vegetable (Middle English) comes from Old French vegetable, from Latin vegetabilis, from Latin vegeto, from Latin vegetus, from Latin vegeo, from Proto-Italic wegeō, from Proto-Italic wegejō, from Proto-Indo-European woǵ-éye- — lively, awake; strong.
Ancestry of “vegetable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | vegetable | — |
| 2 | Latin | vegetabilis | animating, enlivening, vivifying; able to produce... |
| 3 | Latin | vegeto | I arouse, enliven, quicken, animate, invigorate;... |
| 4 | Latin | vegetus | enlivened, lively, animated, vigorous, active,... |
| 5 | Latin | vegeo | I move, excite, quicken, arouse; I am lively or... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | wegeō | to be active, lively |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | wegejō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | woǵ-éye- | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | weǵ- | lively, awake; strong |