root

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See also:Root

English

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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Someroots(1)
Some visible treeroots(1)

Etymology 1

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FromMiddle Englishrote,root,roote(“the underground part of a plant”),from lateOld Englishrōt,fromOld Norserót(Icelandicrót), fromProto-Germanic*wrōts,fromProto-Indo-European*wréh₂ds(“root”);Doubletofwort,radish,andradix.

Noun

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root(countableanduncountable,pluralroots)

  2. Thepartof aplant,generallyunderground,thatanchorsandsupportsthe plant body,absorbsandstoreswaterandnutrients,and in some plants is able to performvegetativereproduction.
    Hyponym:taproot
    This tree'srootscan go as deep as twenty metres underground.
  3. Aroot vegetable.
    • 1943November –1944February (date written; published1945August 17),George Orwell[pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair],Animal Farm[…],London:Secker & Warburg,publishedMay 1962,→OCLC:
      [...] two fields which should have been sown withrootsin the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough.
  4. The part of atoothextending into theboneholding the tooth in place.
    Rootdamage is a common problem of overbrushing.
  5. The part of ahairunder theskinthat holds the hair in place.
    Therootis the only part of the hair that is alive.
  6. The part of a hair near the skin that has not beendyed,permed,or otherwisetreated.
    He dyed his hair black last month, so the greyrootscan be seen.
  7. (figurative)The primarysource;origin.
    Synonyms:basis,origin,source
    The love of money is therootof all evil.
    • 1689December (indicated as1690),[John Locke],Two Treatises of Government:[…],London:[…]Awnsham Churchill,[…],→OCLC:
      ,Book 1
      They were therootsout of which sprang two distinct people.
    • 1936,Rollo Ahmed,The Black Art,London: Long, page160:
      Phallicism was, therefore, at therootof all religion, and was definitely the opponent of evil and darkness.
  8. (aviation)The section of awingimmediatelyadjacentto thefuselage.
  9. (engineering)Thebottomof thethreadof athreadedobject.
    Antonym:crest
    Therootdiameter is the minor diameter of an external thread and the major diameter of an internal one.
  10. (arithmetic)Of anumberorexpression,a number which, whenraisedto aspecifiedpower,yieldsthe specified number or expression.
    Hyponyms:cube root,functional root,square root
    The cuberootof 27 is 3.
  11. (arithmetic)Asquare root(understood if no power is specified; in which case, "the root of" is oftenabbreviatedto "root" ).
    Multiply byroot2.
    • 1899,Dante Gabriel Rossetti(transl.),The New Life(La Vita Nuova)of Dante Alighieri,Siddall edition, page 122.
      The number three is therootof the number nine;[…]being multiplied merely by itself, it produceth nine, as we manifestly perceive that three times three are nine.
  13. (mathematical analysis)Azero(of anequation).
    Synonym:zero
    Antonym:pole
    Holonym:kernel
  14. (graph theory,computing)The singlenodeof atreethat has noparent.
  15. (linguisticmorphology)The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents.Inflectional stemsoften derive from roots.
    Coordinate term:stem
    • 1530July 18,Iohan Palſgrave,“The Introduction”, inLeſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe[…]‎[2],London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns,→OCLC,page32;reprinted asLesclarcissement de la langue françoyse,Genève: Slatkine Reprints,1972:
      In ſo moche that if any verbe be of the thyꝛde coniugation / I ſet out all hisrotesand tenſes[…]
    • 2006,Donald Ringe,From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic(A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎[3],Oxford: Oxford University Press,→ISBN,page12:
      A considerable number of derived nominals, especially thematic nouns, also exhibited o-graderoots.
  16. (linguistics)Awordfrom which another word or words arederived.
    Synonym:etymon
  17. (music)Thefundamentaltoneof anychord;the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.[1]
  18. The lowest place, position, or part.
    • 1667,John Milton,“Book X”, inParadise Lost.[…],London:[…][Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC;republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…],London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
      deep to therootsof hell
    • 1812,Robert Southey,Omniana:
      therootsof the mountains
  19. (computing)InUNIXterminology, the firstuseraccountwith completeaccessto theoperating systemand itsconfiguration,found at the root of thedirectorystructure;the person whomanagesaccounts on a UNIX system.
    Synonyms:superuser,root account,root user
    I have to log in asrootbefore I do that.
  20. (computing)The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.
    Coordinate term:home directory
    I installed the files in therootdirectory.
  21. (slang)Apenis,especially the base of a penis.
Derived terms
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Terms derived fromroot(noun)
Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
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Other terms used inarithmetic operations:

Advancedhyperoperations:tetration,pentation,hexation

Verb

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root(third-person singular simple presentroots,present participlerooting,simple past and past participlerooted)

  1. To growroots;to enter the earth, asroots;totake rootandbegintogrow.
    The cuttings are starting toroot.
    • 1707,J[ohn] Mortimer,The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land.[…],London:[…]J[ohn]H[umphreys]for H[enry]Mortlock[…],and J[onathan]Robinson[…],→OCLC:
      In deep grounds the weedsrootthe deeper.
    • 2014October 26, Jeff Howell, “Is the Japanese knotweed threat exaggerated? Our troubleshooter calls for calm about Japanese knotweed in the garden – and moss on the roof [print version: Don't panic about an overhyped invasion, 25 October 2014, p. P13]”, inThe Daily Telegraph(Property)‎[4]:
      Some old, underfired clay pantiles might be damaged by button mossesrootingin cracks and fissures. But most post-war tiles are hard enough to withstand a bit of moss growth.
  2. Toprepare,oversee,or otherwisecausetherootingofcuttings.
    Werootedsome cuttings last summer.
  3. Tofixfirmly; toestablish.
    • 1823,Gilbert Burnet,The Life of Sir Matthew Hale, Knt., Sometime Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of King's-Bench:
      If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misapprehensions, he gave them not leave torootand fasten by concealment.
    • 1981April 18, Michael Bronski, “Good Production — Bad Play”, inGay Community News,page10:
      Small theater companies come and go very quickly — many times after one show — but community response to Triangle has been strong, and there is a good chance that they will make it through those early growing stages and firmlyroot.
    • 2020October 15, Frank Pasquale, “‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI”, inThe Guardian‎[5]:
      Massacres that take place during war often seem to berootedin irrational emotion.
  5. (computingslang,transitive)To getrootorprivilegedaccesson (acomputer systemormobile phone), often throughbypassingsomesecuritymechanism.
    Synonym:(mobile phone)jailbreak
    Werootedhis box and planted a virus on it.
    I want torootmy Android phone so I can remove the preinstalled crapware.
Translations
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Etymology 2

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FromMiddle Englishwrōten(“to dig with the snout”),fromOld Englishwrōtan,fromProto-Germanic*wrōtaną(“to dig out, to root”).Related toOld Englishwrōt(“snout; trunk”).Loss of initialw-probably due to influence from the related noun (Etymology 1).

Verb

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root(third-person singular simple presentroots,present participlerooting,simple past and past participlerooted)

  2. (transitive,intransitive)To turn up or dig with the snout.
    A pigrootsthe earth for truffles.
    • c.1515–1516,published 1568,John Skelton,Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:
      Such tunges ſhuld be torne out by the harde rootes,
      Hoyning like hogges that groynis andwrotes.
  3. (by extension)To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; tofawn.
  4. (intransitive)Torummage;to search as if bydigginginsoil.
    Synonyms:dig out,root out,rummage
    rootingabout in a junk-filled drawer
  5. (intransitive)Of ababy:to turn the head and open the mouth in search offood.
    • 2016,Rachel Waddilove,The Baby Book: How to enjoy year one: revised and updated,page179:
      When your baby isrooting,his head will turn to the side and he will open and close his mouth. If you put your finger in your baby's hand, she has a grasping reflex that makes her curl her fingers around yours and hold on.
  6. (transitive)Toroot out;toabolish.
  7. (equestrianism,of a horse)Totugorpullat thereinsaggressivelyby driving theheaddownwards while wearing abit.
  8. (Australia,New Zealand,Ireland,vulgar,slang)Tosexuallypenetrate.
    Synonyms:screw,bang,(US)drill,(British)shag;see alsoThesaurus:copulate with
Usage notes
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  • The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense is somewhat milder thanfuckbut still quite coarse, and certainly not for polite conversation. The sexual sense will often be understood, unless care is taken with the context to make therummagesense clear, orroot throughorroot aroundis used. The past participlerootedis equivalent tofuckedin the figurative sense of broken or tired, butrootinghas only the direct verbal sense; it is not an all-purpose intensive likefucking.
Derived terms
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Translations
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to turn up or dig with the snout - as pigs

Noun

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root(pluralroots)

  1. (Australia,New Zealand,vulgar,slang)An act ofsexual intercourse.
    Synonyms:(UK, US)screw,(UK)shag;see alsoThesaurus:copulation
    Fancy aroot?
  2. (Australia,New Zealand,vulgar,slang)A sexual partner.
    Synonym:(US)screw
Usage notes
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  • The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense ofrootis somewhat milder thanfuckbut still quite coarse, certainly not for polite conversation. The normal usage isto have a rootor similar.
Translations
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Etymology 3

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Possibly an alteration ofrout(“to make a loud noise”),influenced byhoot.

Verb

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root(third-person singular simple presentroots,present participlerooting,simple past and past participlerooted)

  1. (intransitive,with "for" or "on",US)Tocheer(on); to showsupport(for) and hope for the success of.(Seeroot for.)[late 19th century]
    Synonyms:(Australia, New Zealand)barrack,cheer on
    I'mrooting foryou, don't let me down!
Translations
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References

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  1. ^1817,Thomas Busby,A Dictionary of Music, Theoretical and Practical

Anagrams

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Chinese

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Etymology

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Borrowed fromEnglishroot.

Verb

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root

  1. (computingslang)toroot(anAndroiddevice)(to get root orprivilegedaccess)
    NàyBộDi độngrootSauKhôngBảo tu.[MSC,trad.]
    NàyBộDi độngrootSauKhôngBảo tu.[MSC,simp.]
    Zhè bù shǒujīroothòu bù bǎoxiū.[Pinyin]
    This mobile phone will not be guaranteed if it isrooted.

See also

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French

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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rootm(pluralroots)

  1. (computing)root

German Low German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromOld Saxonrōd,fromProto-Germanic*raudaz,fromProto-Indo-European*h₁rowdʰós<*h₁rewdʰ-.CompareDutchrood,Germanrot,West Frisianread,Englishred,Danishrød.

Adjective

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root(comparativeröder,superlativeröödst)

  1. red

Declension

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Positive forms ofroot
gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative he isroot se isroot dat isroot se sündroot
partitive een Roods een Roods wat Roods allens Rood
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative rode rode root rode
oblique roden rode root rode
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative de rode de rode dat rode de roden
oblique den roden de rode dat rode de roden
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative en rode/roden en rode en root/rodet (keen) roden
oblique en roden en rode en root/rodet (keen) roden
Comparative forms ofroot
gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative he isröder se isröder dat isröder se sündröder
partitive een röders een röders wat röders allens röder
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative rödere rödere röder rödere
oblique rödern rödere röder rödere
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative de rödere de rödere dat rödere de rödern
oblique den rödern de rödere dat rödere de rödern
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative en rödere/röderen en rödere en röder (keen) rödern
oblique en rödern en rödere en röder (keen) rödern
Superlative forms ofroot
gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative he is deRöödste se is deRöödste dat is datRöödste se sünd deRöödsten
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative röödste röödste röödst röödste
oblique röödsten röödste röödst röödste
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative de röödste de röödste dat röödste de röödsten
oblique den röödsten de röödste dat röödste de röödsten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative en röödste/röödsten en röödste en röödst (keen) röödsten
oblique en röödsten en röödste en röödst (keen) röödsten
Note: This declension is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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FromOld Dutchrōt,fromProto-Germanic*raudaz,fromProto-Indo-European*h₁rowdʰós,from the root*h₁rewdʰ-.

Adjective

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rôot

  1. red

Inflection

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Adjective
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Nominative Indefinite rôot rôde rôot rôde
Definite rôde rôde
Accusative Indefinite rôden rôde rôot rôde
Definite rôde
Genitive Indefinite rôots rôder rôots rôder
Definite rôots,rôden rôots,rôden
Dative rôden rôder rôden rôden

Descendants

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  • Dutch:rood
    • Afrikaans:rooi
    • Jersey Dutch:rôi
    • Negerhollands:rooi,ro,roo,rood
    • Skepi Creole Dutch:aro
  • Limburgish:roead

Further reading

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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root

  1. Alternative form ofrote(“root”)

Etymology 2

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Noun

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root

  1. Alternative form ofrote(“habit”)

Etymology 3

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Noun

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root

  1. Alternative form ofrot

Plautdietsch

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Low Germanrōt,fromOld Saxonrōd.

Adjective

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root

  1. red

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowingfromEnglishroot.

Pronunciation

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  • (Brazil)IPA(key):/ˈʁut͡ʃ/[ˈhut͡ʃ],/ˈʁu.t͡ʃi/[ˈhu.t͡ʃi]

Noun

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rootm(pluralroots)

  1. (computing)root(user with complete access to the operating system)
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