vegetarianism
/vɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛəɹi.ənɪzəm/US/vɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛɹi.ənɪzəm/
vegetarianism noun: the practice of following a vegetarian diet.
Noun (1)
vegetarianism (usually uncountable, plural vegetarianisms)
- The practice of following a vegetarian diet.
- Vegetarianism, he said, is an idea “that has three things going for it all at once—economics, health and compassion.”1975 March 21, Judy Klemesrud, quoting Jean Mayer, “Vegetarianism: Growing Way of Life, Especially Among the Young”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Nov 2025
- What sets her apart from our current ascetics with their practice of transcendental meditation, diet, vegetarianism, ashram simplicities, yoga is that with them the deprivations and rigors‐are undergone for the pay‐off—for tranquility, for thinness, for the hope of a long, life—or frequently, it...1977 January 23, Elizabeth Hardwick, “A woman of transcendent intellect who assumed the sufferings of humanity”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- Synonyms:
- Pythagoreanism
- Antonyms:
- carnism, nonvegetarianism
Noun (2) capitalized: Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism (usually uncountable, plural Vegetarianisms)
- Obsolete spelling of vegetarianism.
- “I must preface this essay by the confession that I am myself a Vegetarian, and that I mean to say all the good I can of the principles of Vegetarianism.”1886, Henry Stephens Salt, A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays, page 7
vegetarianism meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Tagalog and Arabic
vegetarianism in Hindi
- practice of following a vegetarian diet
- शाकाहार śākāhār
vegetarianism in Tamil
- practice of following a vegetarian diet
- சைவம் caivam
vegetarianism in Tagalog
- practice of following a vegetarian diet
- panggugulayin, behetaryanismo, pag-aawoy
vegetarianism in Arabic
- practice of following a vegetarian diet
- نَباتِيَّة nabātiyya
More languagesFewer languages
- vegetarianism in Persian
- گیاهخواری giyâh-xâri
- vegetarianism in Thai
- ลัทธิมังสวิรัติ lát-tí mang-sà-wí-rát, มังสวิรัติ mangsàwírát
- vegetarianism in Vietnamese
- thuyết ăn chay, chế độ ăn chay
Examples of vegetarianism in a sentence
- His grandmother will never quit fussing over his vegetarianism.
- I know we’re never going to agree on the merits of vegetarianism, so let’s agree to disagree, shall we?
- He's a poster child for militant vegetarianism.
Synonyms of vegetarianism
Antonyms
Forms of vegetarianism
| plural | vegetarianisms |
|---|---|
| plural | Vegetarianisms |
Origin of vegetarianism
Attested since circa 1847, when the British Vegetarian Society was founded. From vegetarian + -ism.
First English attestation dates to 1848, according to Merriam-Webster. From vegetarian + -ism.
Words formed from vegetarianism
Questions about vegetarianism
- What does vegetarianism mean?
- Vegetarianism means the practice of following a vegetarian diet.
- What is vegetarianism in Hindi?
- Vegetarianism in Hindi is शाकाहार (śākāhār). See Vegetarianism meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is vegetarianism?
- Vegetarianism is a noun.
- How do you pronounce vegetarianism?
- Vegetarianism is pronounced /vɛd͡ʒɪˈtɛɹi.ənɪzəm/ (US).
- What is the plural of vegetarianism?
- The plural of vegetarianism is vegetarianisms.
Words near vegetarianism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vegetarianism (page history and authors); Vegetarianism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-vegetarianism.wav.
Cite this entry: “vegetarianism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vegetarianism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.