root
1. [ noun ] (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
Related terms: plant_organ licorice_root ginseng pneumatophore senega chicory salsify Hottentot_bread horseradish calamus radish taro mandrake_root prop_root cassava carrot parsnip sarsaparilla_root briarroot taproot adventitious_root orrisroot rootlet root_system bark root_cap root_hair parenchyma botany
2. [ verb ] take root and begin to grow
Examples:

"this plant roots quickly"

Related terms: grow grow
3. [ noun ] (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
Synonyms: stem base theme radical root_word
Examples:

"thematic vowels are part of the stem"

Related terms: form linguistics
4. [ noun ] the place where something begins, where it springs into being
Synonyms: source origin beginning rootage
Examples:

"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"

Related terms: point home headwaters derivation fountainhead birthplace spring trail_head point_source jumping-off_place wellhead
5. [ noun ] (mathematics) a number that when multiplied by itself some number of times equals a given number
Related terms: number square_root cube_root
6. [ noun ] (mathematics) the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation
Synonyms: solution
Related terms: set
7. [ verb ] become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style
Synonyms: take_root settle_down settle steady_down
Examples:

"He finally settled down"

Related terms: stabilize roost
8. [ verb ] dig with the snout
Synonyms: rootle rout
Examples:

"the pig was rooting for truffles"

Related terms: dig
9. [ verb ] cause to take roots
Related terms: grow
10. [ adjective ] arising from or going to the root
Synonyms: radical
Examples:

"a radical flaw in the plan"

Related terms: basic
11. [ verb ] take sides with; align oneself with; show strong sympathy for
Synonyms: side pull
Examples:

"We all rooted for the home team" "I'm pulling for the underdog" "Are you siding with the defender of the title?"

Related terms: back side
12. [ verb ] come into existence, originate
Examples:

"The problem roots in her depression"

Related terms: become beginning
13. [ noun ] someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote that a grandparent)
Synonyms: ancestor antecedent ascendent ascendant
Related terms: descendant relative forefather foremother progenitor forebear ancestress
14. [ noun ] (linguistics) a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes
Synonyms: etymon
Related terms: form
15. [ verb ] plant by the roots
Related terms: plant
16. [ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 1834
17. [ noun ] (anatomy,zoology) the part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as support
Synonyms: tooth_root
Related terms: structure tooth cementum
Similar spelling:   rot
  rout
  Rott
  roth
  rote
  Rota
  Routt
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  route
  Rothe
  rodeo
  Roath
  Rod
  rood
  Rodi
  Rode
  Rodd
  Roda
  road