Vegetable

Vegetable (Late Lat. vegetabilis, full of life, animating, from vegetare, frequentative of vegere to quicken, arouse, vegetus, vigorous, active, cf. vigor, strength, vigour, &c.), a word used as a general term for plants (q.v.), and specifically, in popular language, of such plants as can be eaten by man or animals, whether cooked or raw, and whether the whole of such plants are edible, or only the leaves or the roots or tubers. Among such edible or culinary plants or portions of plants, a further distinction is made popularly between "fruits" and "vegetables," for which see Fruit.

For the botany and cultivation of vegetables see under the specific names, e.g. Potato, Turnip, &c. &c., and generally, Horticulture.