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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 vegan in a Sentence
Francesca Krempa, Travel + Leisure, 19 Oct. 2025
Jane was a longtime vegetarian who in her later years became vegan.
—Lisa Wade, Mercury News, 19 Oct. 2025
For October, Genshlea developed a menu with numerous vegan offerings as part of the Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge, a monthlong event encouraging restaurants across the capital region to embrace vegan cooking.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 18 Oct. 2025
The brand believes that clean beauty should be readily accessible to all, delivering a range of gentle, vegan, and cruelty-free cosmetics that take the guesswork out of caring for your complexion.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for vegan
Cite this Entry
“Vegan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vegan. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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vegan
noun
Medical Definition
vegan
noun
-ˌan
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