VEGEBURGER

noun Also written veggie burger (Lifestyle and Leisure) A flat savoury cake (similar in form to a hamburger but containing vegetables or soya protein rather than meat), sometimes served in a bread bun. Etymology: Formed by replacing the first syllable of hamburger with the first two syllables of vegetable. As in the case of beefburger, the formation is based on the false assumption that the ham- of hamburger names a kind of meat, whereas in fact it is a shortening of Hamburger steak and comes from the place-name Hamburg. The form veggie burger probably represents 'vegetarian burger', since in US English veggie is a well-known colloquial abbreviation of vegetarian. History and Usage: The vegeburger was 'invented' in the early seventies and by 1980 had been registered as a trade mark in a number of different spellings. At first, this kind of burger tended to be available only in health-food outlets, but the success of the animal rights and green movements meant that a meat-free diet became more generally acceptable during the eighties, and the vegeburger more widely available. Free festivals are market-places for everything hippies most like to sell, from hashish to vegeburgers. Listener 12 June 1986, p. 16 Fantastic Foods...offers everything from instant soups sans meat to veggie burger mix, vegetarian chili and tofu stroganoff. Chicago Tribune 9 Aug. 1990, section 7, p. 4