Pronunciation: [vˌɛd͡ʒɪtˈe͡əɹi͡ən] (IPA) 
The spelling of the word "vegetarian" is a bit tricky due to the presence of several vowels in the word. It is pronounced as /vɛdʒɪˈtɛərɪən/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The first two letters "ve" are pronounced as "ve" in "very", followed by "d" as in "day", "j" as in "juice", "i" as in "it", "t" as in "top", "a" as in "care", "r" as in "run", "i" as in "it", "a" as in "care", and finally "n" as in "no".
Vegetarian is an adjective that describes a dietary and lifestyle choice in which individuals refrain from consuming any form of meat, poultry, or seafood. Typically, vegetarians predominantly rely on a plant-based diet, including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds as their primary source of nutrition.
There are several subcategories within the vegetarian diet. Lacto-vegetarians consume plant-based foods as well as dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt. Ovo-vegetarians consume a plant-based diet along with eggs. Lacto-ovo vegetarians further include both dairy products and eggs in their diet. On the other hand, vegans adhere to an even stricter form of vegetarianism, avoiding not only all forms of meat but also any food derived from animals, such as dairy, eggs, and honey.
Individuals may choose to follow a vegetarian lifestyle for various reasons, including health benefits, ethical concerns regarding animal welfare, environmental sustainability, or cultural and religious beliefs. Research suggests that a well-planned vegetarian diet can be nutritionally balanced, providing high levels of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants while being lower in saturated fats and cholesterol.
In summary, a vegetarian is someone who abstains from consuming meat, poultry, and seafood, and instead embraces a diet mainly consisting of plant-based foods. This choice can be made for personal health, environmental, ethical, or cultural reasons.
One who lives wholly on vegetables, eschewing meat; a strict v. avoids tubers and everything except fruits and vegetables grown in the sunlight; a lactovegetarian eats tubers, milk, eggs, and anything except flesh food.
A practical medical dictionary. By Stedman, Thomas Lathrop. Published 1920.
One who abstains from the use of animal food as an article of diet; one who maintains that vegetable and farinaceous substances constitute the only proper food for man.
Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language. By Stormonth, James, Phelp, P. H. Published 1874.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word "vegetarian" comes from the Latin word "vegetus", which means "lively" or "vigorous". However, the modern term "vegetarian" was coined in the mid-19th century by the founders of the Vegetarian Society in England. The word was created by combining "vegetable" with the suffix "-arian", which denotes a person who practices a certain belief or way of living. Hence, "vegetarian" describes someone who abstains from consuming meat and follows a plant-based diet.
