1. Growing or functioning involuntarily or unconsciously, after the assumed manner of vegetable life; denoting especially a state of grossly impaired consciousness, as after severe head trauma or brain disease, in which an individual is incapable of voluntary or purposeful acts and only responds reflexively to painful stimuli. 2. Resting; not active; denoting the stage of a cell or its nucleus in which the process of karyokinesis is quiescent. SEE ALSO: vegetation.
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veg·e·ta·tive 'vej-ə-.tāt-iv adj
1 a ) (1) growing or having the power of growing (2) of, relating to, or engaged in nutritive and growth functions as contrasted with reproductive functions <a \vegetative nucleus>
b) of, relating to, or involving propagation by nonsexual processes or methods
2) of or relating to the division of nature comprising the plant kingdom
3) affecting, arising from, or relating to involuntary bodily functions
4) characterized by, resulting from, or being a state in which there is total loss of cognitive functioning typically indicated by a lack of awareness of oneself and one's environment and in which only involuntary bodily functions (as breathing or blinking of the eyes) are sustained <entered a \vegetative state following a serious head injury>
veg·e·ta·tive·ly adv
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adj.
1. relating to growth and nutrition rather than to reproduction.
2. functioning unconsciously; autonomic.
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veg·e·ta·tive (vejґə-ta″tiv) 1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of plants. 2. concerned with growth and with nutrition, as opposed to reproduction. 3. of or pertaining to asexual reproduction, as by budding or fission. 4. functioning involuntarily or unconsciously.Medical dictionary. 2011.