English Explanatory Dictionary

root

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction.
  2. A root vegetable.
  3. The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
  4. The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.
  5. The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.
  6. The primary source; origin.
  7. The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.
  8. The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.
  9. Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.
  10. A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, "the root of" is often abbreviated to "root").
  11. A zero (of an equation).
  12. The single node of a tree that has no parent.
verb
  1. To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
  2. To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.
  3. To fix firmly; to establish.
  4. To get root or privileged access on (a computer system or mobile phone), often through bypassing some security mechanism.
verb
  1. To turn up or dig with the snout.
  2. To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
  3. To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.
  4. Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.
  5. To root out; to abolish.
  6. To tug or pull at the reins aggressively by driving the head downwards while wearing a bit.
  7. To sexually penetrate.
noun
  1. An act of rummaging or searching.
  2. An act of sexual intercourse.
  3. A sexual partner.
verb
  1. To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.)
name
  1. An English surname from Middle English from a byname from Middle English rote (“glad”).
  2. An English surname originating as an occupation for a rote (medieval guitar)-player.
  3. A habitational surname from Dutch for someone living near a retting place (Dutch root, from roten (“to ret”)).
  4. A town in Lucerne canton, Switzerland.
  5. A township in Adams County, Indiana, United States.
  6. A town in Montgomery County, New York, United States; named for lawyer and politician Erastus Root.
  7. A river in Minnesota, United States; named as a translation of its native Dakota name.
  8. A river in Wisconsin, United States.

Pronunciation

ro͞ot /ɹuːt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-root.wav En-us-root.ogg En-au-root.ogg /ɹʉt/ /ɹʊt/ En-us-root with ʊ.ogg

Word forms

root roots rooting rooted wrout rout wroot Rouet Roote Rootes

Etymology

PIE word *wréh₂ds From Middle English rote, root, roote (“the underground part of a plant”), from late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót (“root”), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“root”), from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”); Doublet of wort, radish, and radix. Cognate with Scots ruit, rute (“root”), Danish rod (“root”), Faroese and Icelandic rót (“root”), Norwegian and Swedish rot (“root”).

Synonyms

fang basis origin source zero etymon superuser root account root user jailbreak dig out root out rummage screw bang drill shag Formal terms bed coit coitize dight enjoy feague go in unto go to bed with have know lie by lie with love mount occupy penetrate season seduce sleep with take Any of Thesaurus:copulate + "with" Informal and slang terms ball bauf beep be with bone boff boink bonk boom-boom dick diddle do doink eff expletive deleted fill frack frak frick frig

Antonyms

crest pole

Related words

successor − = × ×... = √ = = + = + +... = × = ÷ = Or sometimes log(base) =

Derived words

abscess root advanced tongue root aerial root alumroot aniseroot Armillaria root disease Armillaria root rot arrowroot arrow-root asparagus root balsamroot bare-root bareroot beetroot beet root bellyache root bigroot birthroot biscuit root biscuitroot bitterroot blackroot bloodroot Boott's rattlesnake root bowman's root bread-root breadroot briarroot briar-root buttress root buttress-root cabbage root fly Canada root cancer root celery root characteristic root chaya root chay root China root china-root choy root cloveroot clubroot colicroot complex conjugate root theorem coralroot cotton root rot crinkleroot Culver's root daisy roots deep-rooted dick root digital root disroot dorsal root dorsal root ganglion dragonroot eddy root enroot fernroot
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