root

/ru:t/

Friendly

The word "root" can have several meanings in English, depending on the context in which it is used. Let’s break it down into simpler parts so you can understand it better.

Basic Definition

Root (noun): 1. In Plants: The part of a plant that usually grows underground. It absorbs water and nutrients from the soil and helps to anchor the plant in place. - Example: The roots of the tree spread deep into the ground to find water.

Verb Form

Root (verb): 1. To cause something to take root, meaning to become established or settled. - Example: They rooted the new plant in the garden.

Advanced Usage

• Idioms:

  • "Get to the root of the problem" means to find the main cause of an issue.
  • "Put down roots" means to settle in a place and make it your home.

• Phrasal Verb:

  • "Take root" means to begin to grow or become established.

Word Variants

• Rooted (adjective): Firmly established or grounded.

  • Example: She has deep-rooted beliefs about family and tradition.

• Rootless (adjective): Lacking a sense of belonging or connection.

  • Example: The rootless wanderer traveled from place to place without a home.

Synonyms

• For the plant meaning: anchor, foundation.
• For the language meaning: base, stem.
• For the ancestry meaning: origin, heritage.

Different Meanings

• In botany, it refers to the underground part of a plant.
• In linguistics, it refers to the basic part of a word.
• In mathematics, it refers to a specific number related to multiplication.
• In social contexts, it refers to one's family background or heritage.

Academic

Noun

1. the part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as support
2. a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes
3. someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
4. the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation
5. a number that, when multiplied by itself some number of times, equals a given number
6. (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
   • thematic vowels are part of the stem
7. the place where something begins, where it springs into being
   • the Italian beginning of the Renaissance
   • Jupiter was the origin of the radiation
   • Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River
   • communism's Russian root
8. (botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground

Verb

1. cause to take roots
2. become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style
   • He finally settled down
3. dig with the snout
   • the pig was rooting for truffles
4. plant by the roots
5. come into existence, originate
   • The problem roots in her depression
6. take root and begin to grow
   • this plant roots quickly

Synonyms

• tooth root
• etymon
• ancestor
• ascendant
• ascendent
• antecedent
• solution
• root word
• base
• stem
• theme
• radical
• beginning
• origin
• rootage
• source
• settle
• take root
• steady down
• settle down
• rout
• rootle