Definition of "root"

root¹

/ɹuːt/

noun
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.
  Quotations
  A root caught Ulot's left foot and he almost fell.
  1981, Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune‎, page 6
2. A root vegetable.
  Quotations
  [...] 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.
  1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 6, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg
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. (figurative) The primary source; origin.
  Quotations
  They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people.
  1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […]
  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
7. (aviation) The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.
8. (engineering) The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.
9. (arithmetic) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.
10. (arithmetic) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, "the root of" is often abbreviated to "root").
  Quotations
  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. (mathematical analysis) A zero (of an equation).
12. (graph theory, computing) The single node of a tree that has no parent.
13. (linguistic morphology) 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.
  Quotations
  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, page 32; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972
  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, page 12
14. (linguistics) A word from which another word or words are derived.
15. (music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
16. The lowest place, position, or part.
  Quotations
  deep to the roots of hell
  1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
  the roots of the mountains
  1812, Robert Southey, Omniana
17. (computing) 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.
18. (computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.
19. (slang) A penis, especially the base of a penis.
verb
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.
  Quotations
  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. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], published 1708
  Some old, underfired clay pantiles might be damaged by button mosses rooting in cracks and fissures. But most post-war tiles are hard enough to withstand a bit of moss growth.
  2014 October 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 ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)‎
2. To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.
3. To be firmly fixed; to be established.
  Quotations
  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
  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
4. (computing slang, transitive) To get root or privileged access on a computer system or mobile phone, often through bypassing some security mechanism.

root²

/ɹuːt/

verb
third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted
1. (transitive, intransitive) To turn up or dig with the snout.
  Quotations
  Such tunges ſhuld be torne out by the harde rootes,Hoyning like hogges that groynis and wrotes.
  c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.
2. (by extension) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
  Quotations
  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 Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iii]
3. (intransitive) To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.
4. (intransitive) Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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 True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene iv]
  The Lord rooted them out of their land [...] and cast them into another land.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Deuteronomy 29:28
6. (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, vulgar, slang) To sexually penetrate.
noun
plural roots
1. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
2. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) A sexual partner.

root³

/ɹuːt/

verb
third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted
1. (intransitive, with "for" or "on", US) To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.)
  Quotations
  Let me root, root, root for the home team,
  1908, Jack Norworth, Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Definition of "root"

root1

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root2

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root3

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root²

root³