Vegetable

The word "vegetable" normally refers to the edible part of a plant. The definition is traditional rather than scientific. It is fairly arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of cooking and food preparation.

Generally, with some exceptions, any herbaceous plant or plant part which is often eaten as food by humans would normally be considered to be a vegetable. Vegetables are very over and over again eaten cooked. Some, like carrots, bell peppers and celery are quite generally eaten either raw or cooked; while others, like potato, are traditionally eaten only when cooked.