Origin: Latin suffix -tion
Vegetation has 5 different meanings across 1 category:
all the plant life in a particular region or period
"Pleistocene vegetation"
"the flora of southern California"
"the botany of China"
the process of growth in plants
"The rapid vegetation of the forest after the fire amazed everyone who visited the site."
an abnormal growth or excrescence (especially a warty excrescence on the valves of the heart)
"The surgeon removed the vegetations from the patient's heart valves to prevent further infection."
inactivity that is passive and monotonous, comparable to the inactivity of plant life
"their holiday was spent in sleep and vegetation"
Plants, taken collectively.
"The dense vegetation on the hillside provided a natural barrier against the wind."
In plain English: Vegetation is all the plants growing together on land, such as trees and grasses.
"The hikers walked through thick vegetation to reach the top of the hill."
The word vegetation entered English from Middle French and earlier Medieval Latin. It originally referred to the act of growing or being alive before coming to mean plant life in general.