The story
- Proto-Italic*weg-o-der.?
- Proto-Indo-European*weǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*woǵéyeti
- Proto-Italic*wogeōder.?
- Latinvegeō
- Latinvegetus
- Latinvegetāre, vegetō
- Latinvegetābilis
- Old Frenchvegetable
- Middle Englishvegetable
- English todayvegetable
From Middle English vegetable, from Old French vegetable, from Latin vegetābilis (“able to live and grow”), derived from vegetāre (“to enliven”). Displaced Old English wyrt and ofett, whence modern wort and ovest. Related to vigil, vigour, vajra, and waker.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.