I. ˈvejtəbəl also -jəd.əb- or -jətəb- adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin vegetabilis capable of growth, vegetative, from vegetare to grow, flourish (from Latin, to enliven, animate, from vegetus lively, animated, from vegēre to rouse, excite, be active) + Latin -abilis -able — more at wake
1. obsolete : living or growing in the manner of simple living things (as plants) : vegetative
2.
a. : of or relating to plants : having the nature of or produced by plants : growing in the manner of a plant
vegetable growths
vegetable matter
high pointed tower … seems … to have grown up in an inevitable, vegetable way from the three tall arches — Eleanor Clark
b. : consisting of plants : vegetational
vegetable cover
3. : made from plant matter
vegetable color
insulation used in houses can be grouped into three general classes, vegetable , mineral, and metallic — Building, Estimating & Contracting
often : made chemically from plant tissue or substance to resemble an animal product
vegetable wool
vegetable fat
4. : resembling or suggesting a plant (as in lowliness, monotony of existence attached to one place, or inexpressiveness) : monotonous , dull , stupid
great stretch of empty time … in which I lived an essentially vegetable existence — J.P.Roche
gossip, the necessary continuum of corruption and violence in otherwise vegetable lives — Harvey Manning
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : plant 1c — not used technically
b. : a usually herbaceous plant (as the cabbage, potato, bean, or turnip) that is cultivated for an edible part which is used as a table vegetable
2. : an edible part of a plant (as seeds, leaves, or roots) that is used for human food and usually eaten cooked or raw during the principal part of a meal rather than as a dessert — contrasted with fruit
the tomato though botanically a fruit is usually eaten as a vegetable
III. noun
: a person whose mental and physical functioning is severely impaired and especially who requires supportive measures (as intravenous feeding or mechanical ventilation) to survive