vegetation

American  

[vej-i-tey-shuhn] / ˌvɛdʒ ɪˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

1. all the plants or plant life of a place, taken as a whole.

   the vegetation of the Nile valley.

2. the act or process of vegetating.

3. a dull existence; life devoid of mental or social activity.

   Synonyms:

   lethargy, sloth, idleness, inactivity

4. Pathology. a morbid growth, or excrescence.

---

vegetation British  

/ ˌvɛdʒɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. plant life as a whole, esp the plant life of a particular region

2. the process of vegetating

3. pathol any abnormal growth, excrescence, etc

4. a vegetative existence

---

vegetation Scientific  

/ vĕj′ĭ-tā′shən /

1. The plants of an area or a region; plant life.

2. An abnormal bodily accretion, especially a clot composed largely of fused blood platelets, fibrin, and sometimes bacteria, that adheres to a diseased heart valve.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonvegetation noun
• prevegetation noun
• undervegetation noun
• vegetational adjective
• vegetationless adjective
• vegetatious adjective

Etymology

Origin of vegetation

1555–65; < Medieval Latin vegetātiōn- (stem of vegetātiō ), equivalent to vegetāt- ( see vegetate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Use the word vegetation to refer to all plants and trees collectively, typically those in a specific region. The vegetation in your backyard might look very lush and green in the springtime, unless you forget to water it. Vegetation, as well as meaning all plant growth, can refer to the growth process of a plant. The lettuce you planted a couple weeks ago is at an early stage of vegetation. Vegetation can also apply to people — or at least to those in a state of inactivity. Think about how slowly plants grow. It’s the same for a person who’s in a state of vegetation. You may sometimes enjoy the mindless vegetation of doing nothing at all.

Example Sentences

After years of debate between fire officials seeking total vegetation removal within the first 5 feet of homes and ecologists backing selective landscaping, California proposed a compromise.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

Other factors likely played significant roles, including changes in Earth's reflectivity, shifts in vegetation and ice coverage, and variations in ocean circulation.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2026

They combined decades of data, including streamflow and precipitation records going back to 1964, and modeled how much water vegetation would consume.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

They say more than 85 per cent of aquatic and marine vegetation, including saltmarsh, seagrass and kelp, has been lost over the past 50 years.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

If ecological succession were unstoppable, the continents would be covered by climax-stage vegetation: a world of great trees, dark and silent.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• flora
• greenery