by Lee Hall
In Vegetarian Society history, vegetarianism means what it sounds like: the custom of preparing, eating, and sharing foods made from a variety of plant sources.
Those who also eat eggs, cream and the like are, to be precise, ovo-lacto-vegetarians.
John Davis, historian for the International Vegetarian Union (the umbrella group of vegetarian societies worldwide), wrote in The Origins of the “Vegetarians” that the word “vegetarian” first appeared between 1838 and 1843, at the Ham House of Ham Common (understandably re-named Alcott House by 1843). The students at this English school, Davis reported, followed a completely plant-based diet, based on the British socialist principles of John Stuart Mill, and the ideas which Bronson Alcott taught in Boston.
Today, vegetarian groups vary in their definitions. Most vegetarians in India never cook with eggs.