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When did the word vegetarian become popular?
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vegetarianism
A vegan food pyramid, which excludes meat and animal products.
The term vegetarian became popular during the 1800s. Before this period, a meatless diet was commonly referred to as a "Pythagorean diet," named after the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who advocated for the practice.12
According to linguistic records, the word vegetarian saw its first known use as an adjective in 1841 and as a noun in 1842. The term is derived from the word vegetable combined with the suffix -arian. The rise of the term coincided with the formal organization of the movement, such as the founding of the first vegetarian society in England in 1847 and the American Vegetarian Society in 1850.3415