The word "vegetous" (vej-i-tuh s) is not commonly used and can be spelled as "vegetal" instead. The IPA phonetic transcription for "vegetous" is /ˈvɛdʒɪtəs/. The root word is "vegetable" (/ˈvɛdʒɪtəbəl/) which means a plant or part of a plant used as food. "Vegetous" is an adjective form that means resembling or pertaining to a vegetable. However, its use is not recommended as it may cause confusion or misinterpretation due to its rare occurrence in modern vocabulary.