vegetarian

noun veg·e·tar·i·an \ ˌve-jə-ˈter-ē-ən \

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of vegetarian

1 : a person who does not eat meat : someone whose diet consists wholly of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products

2 : herbivore

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See vegetarian defined for kids

Recent Examples of vegetarian from the Web

Eggplant parmesan sandwiches are available for vegetarians.

— grace wong, chicagotribune.com, "Picnic basket lunches to go? Yes, please. Plus Italian sandwiches at Rosie's Sidekick. Here are new openings:," 3 Apr. 2018
Evidence supports that vegetarians typically have lower body mass indexes than people who follow a more traditional, Western-style diet.

— Good Housekeeping, "Everything You Should Know About Vegan Diets Before Copying Beyoncé," 12 Mar. 2018
This darling bistro across from Blackcomb lift ensures that vegetarians and carnivores can dine without compromise.

— marlise kast-myers, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Medal-worthy Whistler," 27 Mar. 2018
Beyond that, those meals should be meat-free, but this doesn't exactly mean observant Christians must become temporary vegetarians.

— refinery29.com, "7 Foods That Will Make Lent Way Easier," 27 Mar. 2018
Uptown, pescetarians, vegetarians and gluten-free eaters get Blue Sushi Sake Grill, an urban-Tokyo-cool kind of space where the menu lists lots of vegetarian rolls and gluten-free dishes, and sushi is served centertable to encourage sharing.

— liz biro, Indianapolis Star, "A Paleo restaurant and a sushi restaurant are open," 5 Feb. 2018
These problems wouldn't occur because my family doesn't respect vegetarians.

— rich santos, Marie Claire, "Could You Date a Vegetarian? (If You Weren't One Yourself)," 24 Nov. 2010
There's no need for vegetarians to stay on the burger bench — downtown Kansas City restaurants offer plenty of meat-free options.

— sarah gish, kansascity, "12 burgers for the Big 12: Try these slam-dunk whoppers near Sprint Center | The Kansas City Star," 6 Mar. 2018
The Impossible Burger appeal to environmentally-conscious diners as well as vegetarians and vegans, Wahlberg said.

— lauren delgado, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Central Florida restaurants offering meatless Impossible Burger," 22 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vegetarian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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.