Vegan
/ˈviː.ɡən/noun
A person who does not eat or use animal products.
Did you know?The word was invented by Donald Watson by clipping the start and end of “vegetarian,” creating a brand-new identity word for a moral practice.
Etymological Timeline
1944
English
vegan
“a person who avoids all animal products”
1944
English
vegetarian
“a person who abstains from meat, and later more broadly from animal foods”
19th Century
English
vegetus
“notably lively, active, vigorous (source of vegetarian)”
Latin
Latin
vegetāre
“to enliven, animate, stir up”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*weg-
“to be strong, lively, active”