The term 'Vegetarian' was first used around 1840 by the community closely associated with Alcott House School, near London, and they used it to refer exclusively to foods derived from plants - plus all the ethical values associated today with Veganism.. Until 1847, the most commonly used equivalent term was 'vegetable diet' ('vegetable' in those days meant any type of vegetation, as in 'animal, vegetable or mineral). Some referred to themselves as 'Pythagoreans' or adherents of the 'Pythagorean System', after the ancient Greek Pythagoras.The word 'Vegetarian' was first formally used on September 30th of 1847 at Northwood Villa in Kent, England. The occasion being the inaugural meeting of The Vegetarian Society.The Vegetarian Society was a joint venture between Alcott House and the Bible Christian Church (BCC), from Salford, near Manchester. The BCC did use eggs and dairy products, so the Society's early definition of 'vegetarian' was "with or without eggs or dairy products", the choice was left to individual members. That basic definition is still used by the Society today (now renamed as The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom). However, most vegetarians in India are lacto-vegetarians (no eggs) as were those in the classical Mediterranean lands, such as Pythagoras.In the USA surveys from 2009-10 showed 66% of genuine vegetarians excluding eggs/dairy completely.The word  VEGAN was invented by Donald Watson and friends in 1944. It is pronounced "vee-gun". This is the most common pronunciation today. No one can say this pronunciation is "wrong", so this is also the politically correct pronunciation. In the US, common pronunciations are "vee-jan" and "vay-gn" in addition to "vee-gn", though the American Vegan Society says the correct pronunciation is as above.