Where Did the Word “Vegan” Come From?
Vegetarianism takes many forms, from avoiding only certain meats to avoiding animal products entirely. But where do the words describing these lifestyles come from? In particular, what about the relative newcomer veganism?
Vegetarianism has been around for a very long time. Some studies of mummified Egyptians show evidence of vegetarian diets. Historians also date this diet back to Ancient Greek philosophers, and religious sects of Buddhism and Hinduism have encouraged vegetarianism for hundreds of years.
When did vegetarianism become popular?
The word vegetarianism itself came into common usage in the 1840–50s. During this era, a diet abstaining from meat was associated with religious conservatism, which also propelled the temperance movement to ban alcohol.
It is not completely clear who invented the word vegetarian. It may have been the founders of the British Vegetarian Society in 1847. Regardless, its linguistic roots are very clear. The Latin word vegetābilis meant “lively or animating” and came to describe foods that made one lively or animated. The suffix –arian changes an adjective into a personal noun, as in librarian or veterinarian. From the 1840s onward, the word was in common English usage.
Why vegan, though?
What about this short word that describes avoiding not just the direct consumption of animals but all animal-derived products entirely? Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society, coined the word vegan in 1944 to distinguish his members from vegetarians who ate dairy products. He took the first and last syllables of the word vegetarian to coin a word for his stricter version of vegetarianism. Today, as many as 5 percent of American adults say they follow a vegetarian-inclined diet, but 0.5 percent of adults are strict vegans: they omit all animal products from their diets.
Many people who describe themselves as vegetarian, but not vegan, are lacto-ovo-vegetarians; that is, they eat eggs and milk. If you want to get really specific in describing your diet, you could use terms like pollotarian (if you eat chicken, but not meat from mammals) and pescatarian (if you eat fish).
But what about flexitarian?
More recently, a new word has entered the dietary lexicon: flexitarian. The term was invented in the 1990s, and the first cookbooks that used the word (such as The Flexitarian Diet by registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner) came out in the 2000s. Many celebrity chefs, including Mark Bittman, now promote a “plant-based diet,” meaning one that focuses on plants but can include a little meat.
Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma uses a different nomenclature to talk about similar issues. By calling us omnivores, Pollan emphasizes our ability to eat both plant- and animal-based foods.. The language he uses closely resembles the words that biologists use to talk about animals. Owls are carnivores; rabbits are herbivores. Humans and other animals who eat both meat and plants are omnivores.
One thing is for sure: this won’t be the end of words that classify the ways we eat. As eating habits evolve, the vocabulary we use to describe them continues to evolve as well.
