a part of the body of a plant that develops, typically, from the radicle and grows downward into the soil, anchoring the plant and absorbing nutriment and moisture.

a similar organ developed from some other part of a plant, as one of those by which ivy clings to its support.

any underground part of a plant, as a rhizome.

something resembling or suggesting the root of a plant in position or function

roots of wires and cables.

the embedded or basal portion of a hair, tooth, nail, nerve, etc.

the fundamental or essential part

the root of a matter.

the source or origin of a thing

The love of money is the root of all evil.

a person or family as the source of offspring or descendants.

an offshoot or scion.

Mathematics .

Also called nth root. a quantity that, when multiplied by itself a certain number of times, produces a given quantity

The number 2 is the square root of 4, the cube root of 8, and the fourth root of 16.

r th root, the quantity raised to the power 1/ r

The number 2 is the 1 3 root of 8.

a value of the argument of a function for which the function takes the value zero.

Grammar .

a morpheme that underlies an inflectional or derivational paradigm, as dance, the root in danced, dancer, or ten-, the root of Latin tendere to stretch.

such a form reconstructed for a parent language, as *sed-, the hypothetical proto-Indo-European root meaning sit.

roots,

a person's original or true home, environment, and culture

He's lived in New York for twenty years, but his roots are in France.

the personal relationships, affinity for a locale, habits, and the like, that make a country, region, city, or town one's true home

He lived in Tulsa for a few years, but never established any roots there.

personal identification with a culture, religion, etc., seen as promoting the development of the character or the stability of society as a whole.

Music .

the fundamental tone of a compound tone or of a series of harmonies.

the lowest tone of a chord when arranged as a series of thirds; the fundamental.

Machinery .

(in a screw or other threaded object) the narrow inner surface between threads. Compare crest ( def. 18 ) , flank ( def. 7 ) .

(in a gear) the narrow inner surface between teeth.

Australian Informal . an act of sexual intercourse.

Shipbuilding . the inner angle of an angle iron.

to become fixed or established.

to fix by or as if by roots

We were rooted to the spot by surprise.

to implant or establish deeply

Good manners were rooted in him like a second nature.

to pull, tear, or dig up by the roots (often fol. by up or out ).

to extirpate; exterminate; remove completely (often fol. by up or out )

to root out crime.

root and branch

utterly; entirely

to destroy something root and branch.

take root

to send out roots; begin to grow.

to become fixed or established

The prejudices of parents usually take root in their children.

noun

derivation , derivative , sprout

verb

cover

noun

basis , bedrock , beginnings , bottom , cause , center , crux , derivation , essence , essentiality , footing , foundation , fountain , fountainhead , fundamental , germ , ground , groundwork , heart , inception , infrastructure , mainspring , marrow , motive , nub , nucleus , occasion , origin , pith , provenance , provenience , quick , quintessence , radicle , radix , reason , rhizome , rock bottom * , seat , seed , soul , source , starting point , stem , stuff , substance , substratum , tuber , underpinning , [[wellnotes:a rout is a disorderly crowd of people or an overwhelming defeat; a root is the usually underground organ of a plant that lacks buds or leaves or nodes and absorbs water and mineral salts - or the form of a word after all affixes are removed; a route is an established line of travel or access - or a road]] , course , or way for travel from one place to another , core , gist , kernel , meat , spirit , base , cornerstone , fundament , rudiment , beginning , fount , mother , parent , rootstock , spring , well , focus , hub , bulb , radicel , rootlet , spur , taproot

verb

burrow , delve , embed , ferret , forage , grub , grub up , hunt , ingrain , lodge , nose , place , poke , pry , [[rummagenotes:a rout is a disorderly crowd of people or an overwhelming defeat; a root is the usually underground organ of a plant that lacks buds or leaves or nodes and absorbs water and mineral salts - or the form of a word after all affixes are removed; a route is an established line of travel or access - or a road]] , course , or way for travel from one place to another , entrench , fasten , infix , build , establish , found , ground , predicate , rest , underpin , abolish , blot out , clear , eradicate , erase , exterminate , extinguish , extirpate , kill , liquidate , obliterate , remove , rub out , snuff out , stamp out , uproot , wipe out , cheer , clap , amole , applaud , base , basis , beet , beginning , bottom , bulb , carrot , center , core , deracinate , derivation , dig , elihu , encourage , essence , foundation , fundamental , groundwork , grout , heart , motive , nucleus , origin , plant , radical , radish , reason , rise , rummage , sassafras , search , settle , soul , source , stem , support , tuber , turnip