Etymology

vegan

ve·gan
V4E1G2A1N1

Today it means: Not containing animal products (meat, eggs, milk, leather, etc) or inherently involving animal use. Full definition →

First used 1944English vegetarian ← Middle English vegetable ← Old French vegetable
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vegan · adjective, noun1

  1. Proto-Italic*weg-o-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*weǵ-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*woǵéyeti
  4. Proto-Italic*wogeōder.?
  5. Latinvegeō
  6. Latinvegetus
  7. Latinvegetāre, vegetō
  8. Latinvegetābilis
  9. Old Frenchvegetable
  10. Middle Englishvegetable
  11. Englishvegetable
  12. Englishvegetarian
  13. English todayvegan

Clipping of vegetarian or vegetable, 1944. Coined by English vegan activist Donald Watson of the Vegan Society and first used in the name of The Vegan News.

Vegan · adjective, noun2

From Vega + -an.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1944 Relating to vegans or veganism.
  • from 1944 A person who does not eat, drink or otherwise consume any animal products

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.