Word.ws English Dictionary

root

UK/ɹuːt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ɹʉwt/

root noun: 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.

root: the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and...
Image: Jonathan Wilkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

root (countable and uncountable, plural roots)

  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.
    • This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.
    • A Greek historian Phylarchus describes a white root indigenous to India that caused eunuchism when a person bathed in water in which the root was steeped.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 123
    Synonyms:
    fang
  2. A root vegetable.
    • [...] two fields which should have been sown with roots in the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
  3. The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
    • Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.
    Synonyms:
    fang
  4. The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.
    • The root is the only part of the hair that is alive.
  5. The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.
    • He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen.
  6. (figuratively) The primary source; origin.
    • The love of money is the root of all evil.
    • They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people., Book 1
    Synonyms:
    basis, origin, source
  7. The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.
  8. The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.
    • The root diameter is the minor diameter of an external thread and the major diameter of an internal one.
    Antonyms:
    crest
  9. Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.
    • The cube root of 27 is 3.
  10. A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”).
    • Multiply by root 2.
    • The number three is the root of the number nine; […] being multiplied merely by itself, it produceth nine, as we manifestly perceive that three times three are nine.1899, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (transl.), The New Life (La Vita Nuova) of Dante Alighieri, Siddall edition, page 122.
  11. A zero (of an equation).
    Synonyms:
    zero
    Antonyms:
    pole
  12. The single node of a tree that has no parent.
Show 7 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Inflectional stems often derive from roots.
    • In ſo moche that if any verbe be of the thyꝛde coniugation / I ſet out all his rotes and tenſes[…]1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The Introduction”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 32; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue...
    • A considerable number of derived nominals, especially thematic nouns, also exhibited o-grade roots.2006, Donald Ringe, From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 12
  2. A word from which another word or words are derived.
    Synonyms:
    etymon
  3. The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
  4. The lowest place, position, or part.
    • deep to the roots of hell1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • the roots of the mountains1812, Robert Southey, Omniana
  5. In UNIX terminology, the first user account with complete access to the operating system and its configuration, found at the root of the directory structure; the person who manages accounts on a UNIX system.
    • I have to log in as root before I do that.
  6. The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.
    • I installed the files in the root directory.
  7. (slang) A penis, especially the base of a penis.

Verb (1)

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

  1. To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
    • The cuttings are starting to root.
    • In deep grounds the weeds root the deeper.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
  2. To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.
    • We rooted some cuttings last summer.
  3. To fix firmly; to establish.
    • If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misapprehensions, he gave them not leave to root and fasten by concealment.1823, Gilbert Burnet, The Life of Sir Matthew Hale, Knt., Sometime Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of King's-Bench
    • 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 firmly root.1981 April 18, Michael Bronski, “Good Production — Bad Play”, in Gay Community News, page 10
  4. (slang, transitive) To get root or privileged access on (a computer system or mobile phone), often through bypassing some security mechanism.
    • We rooted his box and planted a virus on it.
    • I want to root my Android phone so I can remove the preinstalled crapware.
    Synonyms:
    jailbreak

Verb (2)

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

  1. (ambitransitive) To turn up or dig with the snout.
    • A pig roots the earth for truffles.
    • Such tunges ſhuld be torne out by the harde rootes,c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.
  2. (broadly) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
    • Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  3. (intransitive) To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.
    • rooting about in a junk-filled drawer
  4. (intransitive) Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.
    • When your baby is rooting, 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.2016, Rachel Waddilove, The Baby Book: How to enjoy year one: revised and updated, page 179
  5. (transitive) To root out; to abolish.
    • I will go root away the noisome weeds.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
    • The Lord rooted them out of their land [...] and cast them into another land.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 29:28
  6. To tug or pull at the reins aggressively by driving the head downwards while wearing a bit.
  7. (Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, slang, vulgar) To sexually penetrate.
    Synonyms:
    screw, bang, drill, shag, Formal terms, bed, coit, coitize, dight, enjoy

Noun (2)

root (plural roots)

  1. An act of rummaging or searching.
    • It was always sensible to get off the busy streets if you were going to have a root inside your girlfriend's bra.2002, Tom Reilly, Hollow Be Thy Name, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN
    • It'll come to me eventually, but I think I'll go over to Bristol tomorrow afternoon and have a root through the medical school library.2011 August 1, Bernard Knight, According to the Evidence, Severn House Publishers Ltd, →ISBN
  2. (Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar) An act of sexual intercourse.
    • Fancy a root?
    • Ken was in the good mood he'd been in for weeks. Nothing like a regular root to turn him into the jolly green giant.2018, Melissa Lucashenko, Too Much Lip, University of Queensland Press, published 2023, page 113
  3. (Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar) A sexual partner.
    Synonyms:
    screw

Verb (3)

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

  1. (US, intransitive) To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.)
    • I'm rooting for you, don't let me down!
    • Let me root, root, root for the home team,1908, Jack Norworth, Take Me Out to the Ball Game
    Synonyms:
    barrack, cheer on

Proper noun capitalized: Root

Root

  1. An English surname from Middle English from a byname from Middle English rote (“glad”).
    • In July this year, Mrs. Betty Root, who is in charge of the reading centre at Reading University's Institute of Education, reported 'that there are now more backward readers than ever, in spite of the large number of teaching methods now available'.1969, The Critical Survey, volume 4, page 3
  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.

root meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

root in Hindi

part of a plant
जड़ jaṛ
of a tooth
जड़ jaṛ

root in Tamil

part of a plant
வேர் vēr
of a tooth
வேர் vēr
part of a hair under the skin
வேர் vēr, அடிவேர் aṭivēr
part of a hair near the skin
வேர் vēr

root in Marathi

root
मूळ mūḷ

root in Urdu

part of a plant
جَڑ jaṛ
More languagesFewer languages
root in Bengali
মূল mul
root in Telugu
వేరు vēru, మూలము mūlamu
root in Malayalam
വേര് vērŭ
root in Kannada
ಬೇರು bēru
root in Punjabi
ਜੜ੍ਹ jaṛh
root in Gujarati
મૂળ mūḷ, મૂળિયું mūḷiyũ, અંગ aṅga
root in Odia
ଜଡି jaḍi
root in Sanskrit
मूल mū́la, तल tala, नेम nema
root in Sinhala
මුල mula
root in Assamese
শিয়া xia, শিপা xipa
root in Nepali
जरा jarā
root in Pashto
جذر jazr, جرړه járṛa
root in Tagalog
urat, ugat, salitang ugat
root in Arabic
جَذْر jaḏr, جدر gedr, شرش šereš, أَصْل ʔaṣl
root in Malay
akar, punca
root in Indonesian
akar, direktori awal, luar folder, punca
root in Persian
ریشَه rēša, ریشِه riše, پِیاز piyâz, سَرْچَشْمِه sarčašme
root in Thai
ราก râak, รากเหง้า, มูลเหตุ, เอาใจช่วย ao-jai-chûai
root in Vietnamese
rễ, gốc, chân răng, chân tóc
root in Myanmar
အမြစ် a.mrac

Examples of root in a sentence

  • A root caught Ulot's left foot and he almost fell.1981, Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 6:
  • Phallicism was, therefore, at the root of all religion, and was definitely the opponent of evil and darkness.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 160:
  • Some old, underfired clay pantiles might be damaged by button mosses rooting in cracks and fissures.2014 October 26, Jeff Howell, “Is the Japanese knotweed threat exaggerated? Our troubleshooter calls for calm about Japanese knotweed in...
  • Massacres that take place during war often seem to be rooted in irrational emotion.2020 October 15, Frank Pasquale, “‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI”, in The Guardian:

All 40 example sentences with root

Synonyms of root

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of root

Forms of root

Noun
pluralroots
Verb
third-person singular presentroots
present participlerooting
past participlerooted
pastrooted
alternative form (dialectal)wrout
alternative form (dialectal)rout
alternative form (obsolete)wroot
Proper noun
alternative formRouet
alternative formRout
alternative formRoots

Past tense of root: rooted

Plural of root: roots

Origin of root

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 Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish rot (“root”).

From Middle English wrōten (“to dig with the snout”), from Old English wrōtan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrōtan, from Proto-Germanic *wrōtaną (“to dig out, to root”). Related to Old English wrōt (“snout; trunk”). Loss of initial w- probably due to influence from the related noun (Etymology 1).

Possibly an alteration of rout (“to make a loud noise”), influenced by hoot.

Words formed from root

Phrases with root

132 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with root

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about root

What does root mean?
Root means 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.
What is root in Hindi?
Root in Hindi is जड़ (jaṛ). See Root meaning in Hindi.
How do you use root in a sentence?
A root caught Ulot's left foot and he almost fell.
What part of speech is root?
Root can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce root?
Root is pronounced /ɹuːt/ (UK).
What is the plural of root?
The plural of root is roots.

Words near root in the dictionary

  1. roosting
  2. roostings
  3. roostmate
  4. roostmates
  5. roosts
  6. root
  7. root about
  8. root account
  9. root accounts
  10. root and branch
  11. root around

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: root (page history and authors); Root (page history and authors); मूळ (Marathi) (page history and authors); અંગ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); तल (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); මුල (Sinhala) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-root.wav, En-au-root.ogg.

Cite this entry: “root.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/root. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.