Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VEG'E-TATE, v.i. [L. vegeto; Fr. vegeter; from L. vigeo, to flourish.]

To sprout; to germinate; to grow; as plants; to grow and be enlarged by nutriment imbibed from the earth, air or water, by means of roots and leaves. Plants will not vegetate without a certain degree of heat; but some plants vegetate with less heat than others. Potatoes will vegetate after they are pared, provided what are called the eyes or chits are not removed or injured. See dying vegetables life sustain, / See life dissolving vegetate again. – Pope.