root 1
— rootlike , adj.
/rooht, root/ , n.
1. a part of the body of a plant that develops, typically, from the radicle and grows downward into the soil, anchoring the plant and absorbing nutriment and moisture.
2. a similar organ developed from some other part of a plant, as one of those by which ivy clings to its support.
3. any underground part of a plant, as a rhizome.
4. something resembling or suggesting the root of a plant in position or function: roots of wires and cables.
5. the embedded or basal portion of a hair, tooth, nail, nerve, etc.
6. the fundamental or essential part: the root of a matter.
7. the source or origin of a thing: The love of money is the root of all evil.
8. a person or family as the source of offspring or descendants.
9. an offshoot or scion.
10. Math.
a. a quantity that, when multiplied by itself a certain number of times, produces a given quantity: The number 2 is the square root of 4, the cube root of 8, and the fourth root of 16.
b. r th root , the quantity raised to the power 1/ r : The number 2 is the 1 / 3 root of 8.
c. a value of the argument of a function for which the function takes the value zero.
11. Gram.
a. a morpheme that underlies an inflectional or derivational paradigm, as dance, the root in danced, dancer, or ten-, the root of Latin tendere "to stretch."
b. such a form reconstructed for a parent language, as * sed-, the hypothetical proto-Indo-European root meaning "sit."
12. roots ,
a. a person's original or true home, environment, and culture: He's lived in New York for twenty years, but his roots are in France.
b. the personal relationships, affinity for a locale, habits, and the like, that make a country, region, city, or town one's true home: He lived in Tulsa for a few years, but never established any roots there.
c. personal identification with a culture, religion, etc., seen as promoting the development of the character or the stability of society as a whole.
13. Music.
a. the fundamental tone of a compound tone or of a series of harmonies.
b. the lowest tone of a chord when arranged as a series of thirds; the fundamental.
14. Mach.
a. (in a screw or other threaded object) the narrow inner surface between threads. Cf. crest (def. 18), flank (def. 7).
b. (in a gear) the narrow inner surface between teeth.
15. Australian Informal. an act of sexual intercourse.
16. Shipbuilding. the inner angle of an angle iron.
17. root and branch , utterly; entirely: to destroy something root and branch.
18. take root ,
a. to send out roots; begin to grow.
b. to become fixed or established: The prejudices of parents usually take root in their children.
v.i.
19. to become fixed or established.
v.t.
20. to fix by or as if by roots: We were rooted to the spot by surprise.
21. to implant or establish deeply: Good manners were rooted in him like a second nature.
22. to pull, tear, or dig up by the roots (often fol. by up or out ).
23. to extirpate; exterminate; remove completely (often fol. by up or out ): to root out crime.
[ bef. 1150; (n.) ME; late OE rot rot; akin to OE wyrt plant, WORT 2 , G Wurzel, L radix (see RADIX), Gk rhíza (see RHIZOME); (v.) ME roten, rooten, deriv. of the n. ]
Syn. 6. basis. 7. beginning, derivation, rise, fountainhead. 8. parent. 23. eradicate.
root 2
/rooht, root/ , v.i.
1. to turn up the soil with the snout, as swine.
2. to poke, pry, or search, as if to find something: to root around in a drawer for loose coins.
v.t.
3. to turn over with the snout (often fol. by up ).
4. to unearth; bring to light (often fol. by up ).
[ 1530-40; var. of obs. wroot (OE wrotan, akin to wrot a snout) ]
root 3
/rooht/ or, sometimes, /root/ , v.i.
1. to encourage a team or contestant by cheering or applauding enthusiastically.
2. to lend moral support: The whole group will be rooting for him.
[ 1885-90, Amer.; perh. var. of ROUT 4 ]
Syn. 1. cheer, applaud, boost, support.