root

root¹

noun

1》 a part of a plant normally below ground, which acts as a support and collects water and nourishment.

    ↘a turnip, carrot, or other vegetable which grows as a root.

2》 the embedded part of a bodily organ or structure such as a hair.

3》 the basic cause, source, or origin: money is the root of all evil.

    ↘(roots) family, ethnic, or cultural origins as the reasons for one's emotional attachment to a place or community.

    ↘[as modifier] (roots) denoting something from a non-Western ethnic or cultural origin: roots music.

4》 Linguistics a morpheme, not necessarily surviving as a word in itself, from which words have been made by the addition of prefixes or suffixes or by other modification.

5》 (also root note) Music the fundamental note of a chord.

6》 (in biblical use) a descendant.

7》 Mathematics a number or quantity that when multiplied by itself one or more times gives a specified number or quantity.

    ↘a value of an unknown quantity satisfying a given equation.

8》 Austral./NZ & Irish vulgar slang an act of sexual intercourse.

verb

1》 (with reference to a plant or cutting) establish or cause to establish roots.

2》 establish deeply and firmly.

    ↘(be rooted in) have as a source or origin.

3》 [often as adjective rooted] cause to stand immobile through fear or amazement.

4》 (root someone/thing out/up) find and get rid of someone or something.

5》 Austral./NZ & Irish vulgar slang have sex with.

    ↘exhaust or frustrate.

Phrases

at root fundamentally.

put down roots begin to have a settled life in a place.

root and branch (of a process or operation) thorough or radical.

take root become fixed or established.

Derivatives

rootedness noun

rootless adjective

rootlessness noun

rootlet noun

root-like adjective

rooty adjective

Origin

OE rōt, from ON rót; related to wort.

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root²

verb

1》 (of an animal) turn up the ground with its snout in search of food.

    ↘search or rummage.

2》 (root for) informal support enthusiastically.

    ↘(root someone on) N. Amer. informal cheer or urge someone on.

noun an act of rooting.

Origin

OE wrōtan, of Gmc origin; related to OE wrōt 'snout'.