1.  root(n = noun.plant) - (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;
is a kind of plant organ
is a part of root system, rootage
has parts: root cap, root hair, bark
has particulars: calamus, cocoyam, dasheen, eddo, taro, ginseng, horseradish, horseradish root, radish, chicory, chicory root, oyster plant, salsify, hottentot's bread, hottentot bread, briarroot, orris, orrisroot, sarsaparilla root, licorice root, senega, mandrake, mandrake root, cassava, manioc, carrot, parsnip, pneumatophore, taproot, adventitious root, rootlet, prop root
Derived forms verb root₁, verb root₃, noun rootlet₁

2.  root(n = noun.location) beginning, origin, rootage, source - 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"
is a kind of point
has particulars: derivation, spring, fountainhead, head, headspring, headwater, wellhead, wellspring, jumping-off place, point of departure, birthplace, cradle, place of origin, provenance, provenience, home, point source, trail head, trailhead
Derived form verb root₂

3.  root(n = noun.communication) base, radical, root word, stem, theme - (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem"
is a kind of descriptor, form, signifier, word form

4.  root(n = noun.quantity) - a number that, when multiplied by itself some number of times, equals a given number;
is a kind of number
has particulars: square root, cube root

5.  root(n = noun.group) solution - the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation;
is a kind of set

6.  root(n = noun.person) ancestor, antecedent, ascendant, ascendent - someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent);
is a kind of relation, relative
has particulars: ancestress, forbear, forebear, father, forefather, sire, foremother, primogenitor, progenitor

7.  root(n = noun.communication) etymon - a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes;
is a kind of descriptor, form, signifier, word form

8.  root(n = noun.body) tooth root - the part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as support;
is a kind of anatomical structure, bodily structure, body structure, complex body part, structure
is a part of tooth
has parts: cement, cementum

1.  root(v = verb.change) - take root and begin to grow; "this plant roots quickly"
is one way to grow
Derived forms noun root₁, noun rooting₁
Sample sentences: Something ----s; Something is ----ing PP

2.  root(v = verb.stative) - come into existence, originate; "The problem roots in her depression"
is one way to become
Derived forms noun root₂, noun rootage₃
Sample sentences: Something ----s; Somebody ----s

3.  root(v = verb.contact) - plant by the roots;
is one way to plant, set
Derived form noun root₁
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something

4.  root(v = verb.contact) rootle, rout - dig with the snout; "the pig was rooting for truffles"
is one way to cut into, delve, dig, turn over
Sample sentences: Something ----s something

5.  root(v = verb.change) settle, settle down, steady down, take root - become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style; "He finally settled down"
is one way to stabilise, stabilize
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s; Somebody ----s PP

6.  root(v = verb.change) - cause to take roots;
is one way to grow
Derived form noun rooting₁
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something

1.  To turn up the earth with the snout, as swine. [1913 Webster]

2.  Hence, to seek for favor or advancement by low arts or groveling servility; to fawn servilely. [1913 Webster]

   To turn up or to dig out with the snout; as, the swine roots the earth. [1913 Webster]

1.  The underground portion of a plant, whether a true root or a tuber, a bulb or rootstock, as in the potato, the onion, or the sweet flag. [1913 Webster]

2.  An edible or esculent root, especially of such plants as produce a single root, as the beet, carrot, etc.; as, the root crop. [1913 Webster]

3.  That which resembles a root in position or function, esp. as a source of nourishment or support; that from which anything proceeds as if by growth or development; as, the root of a tooth, a nail, a cancer, and the like. [1913 Webster]
"They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people." [1913 Webster]
"The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." [1913 Webster]

4.  The time which to reckon in making calculations. [1913 Webster]
"When a root is of a birth yknowe [known]." [1913 Webster]

1.  To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow. [1913 Webster]
"In deep grounds the weeds root deeper." [1913 Webster]

2.  To be firmly fixed; to be established. [1913 Webster]
"If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misappehensions, he gave them not leave to root and fasten by concealment." [1913 Webster]

   To shout for, or otherwise noisly applaud or encourage, a contestant, as in sports; hence, to wish earnestly for the success of some one or the happening of some event, with the superstitious notion that this action may have efficacy; -- usually with for; as, the crowd rooted for the home team. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

1.  To plant and fix deeply in the earth, or as in the earth; to implant firmly; hence, to make deep or radical; to establish; -- used chiefly in the participle; as, rooted trees or forests; rooted dislike. [1913 Webster]

2.  To tear up by the root; to eradicate; to extirpate; -- with up, out, or away. Shak. [1913 Webster]
"The Lord rooted them out of their land . . . and cast them into another land." [1913 Webster]

root, n. & v.
--n.
1 a the part of a plant normally below the ground, attaching it to the earth and conveying nourishment to it from the soil. b (in pl.) such a part divided into branches or fibres. c the corresponding organ of an epiphyte; the part attaching ivy to its support. d the permanent underground stock of a plant. e any small plant with a root for transplanting.
2 a any plant, e.g. a turnip or carrot, with an edible root. b such a root.
3 (in pl.) the sources of or reasons for one's long-standing emotional attachment to a place, community, etc.
4 a the embedded part of a bodily organ or structure, e.g. hair, tooth, nail, etc. b the part of a thing attaching it to a greater or more fundamental whole. c (in pl.) the base of a mountain etc.
5 a the basic cause, source, or origin (love of money is the root of all evil; has its roots in the distant past). b (attrib.) (of an idea etc.) from which the rest originated.
6 the basis of something, its means of continuance or growth (has its root(s) in selfishness; has no root in the nature of things).
7 the essential substance or nature of something (get to the root of things).
8 Math. a a number or quantity that when multiplied by itself a usu. specified number of times gives a specified number or quantity (the cube root of eight is two). b a square root. c a value of an unknown quantity satisfying a given equation.
9 Philol. any ultimate unanalysable element of language; a basis, not necessarily surviving as a word in itself, on which words are made by the addition of prefixes or suffixes or by other modification.
10 Mus. the fundamental note of a chord.
11 Bibl. a scion, an offshoot (there shall be a root of Jesse).
12 Austral. & NZ coarse sl. a an act of sexual intercourse. b a (female) sexual partner.
--v.
1 a intr. take root or grow roots. b tr. cause to do this (take care to root them firmly).
2 tr. a fix firmly; establish (fear rooted him to the spot). b (as rooted adj.) firmly established (her affection was deeply rooted; rooted objection to).
3 tr. (usu. foll. by out, up) drag or dig up by the roots.
4 tr. Austral. coarse sl. a have sexual intercourse with (a woman). b exhaust, frustrate.

Idiom:
pull up by the roots
1 uproot.
2 eradicate, destroy. put down roots 1 begin to draw nourishment from the soil.
2 become settled or established. root and branch thorough(ly), radical(ly). root beer US an effervescent drink made from an extract of roots. root-mean-square Math. the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of a set of values. root out find and get rid of. root sign Math. = radical sign. strike at the root (or roots) of set about destroying.
strike (or take) root
1 begin to grow and draw nourishment from the soil.
2 become fixed or established.

Derivative:
rootage n. rootedness n. rootless adj. rootlet n. rootlike adj. rooty adj.

root, v.
1 a intr. (of an animal, esp. a pig) turn up the ground with the snout, beak, etc., in search of food. b tr. (foll. by up) turn up (the ground) by rooting.
2 a intr. (foll. by around, in, etc.) rummage. b tr. (foll. by out or up) find or extract by rummaging.
3 intr. (foll. by for) US sl. encourage by applause or support.

Derivative:
rooter n. (in sense 3).

Etymology:
earlier wroot f. OE wrotan & ON r{oacute}ta: rel. to OE wrot snout

N  word, term, vocable, name, phrase, root, etymon, derivative, part of speech, ideophone, dictionary, vocabulary, lexicon, glossary, index, concordance, thesaurus, gradus, delectus, etymology, derivation, glossology, terminology orismology, paleology, lexicography, glossographer, lexicologist, verbarian, verbal, literal, titular, nominal, conjugate, paronymous, derivative, verbally, verbatim, the artillery of words.

N  number, symbol, numeral, figure, cipher, digit, integer, counter, round number, formula, function, series, sum, difference, complement, subtrahend, product, multiplicand, multiplier, multiplicator, coefficient, multiple, dividend, divisor, factor, quotient, submultiple, fraction, rational number, surd, irrational number, transcendental number, mixed number, complex number, complex conjugate, numerator, denominator, decimal, circulating decimal, repetend, common measure, aliquot part, prime number, prime, relative prime, prime factor, prime pair, reciprocal, totient, binary number, octal number, hexadecimal number, permutation, combination, variation, election, ratio, proportion, comparison, progression, arithmetical progression, geometrical progression, harmonical progression, percentage, permilage, figurate numbers, pyramidal numbers, polygonal numbers, power, root, exponent, index, logarithm, antilogarithm, modulus, base, differential, integral, fluxion, fluent, numeral, complementary, divisible, aliquot, reciprocal, prime, relatively prime, fractional, decimal, figurate, incommensurable, proportional, exponential, logarithmic, logometric, differential, fluxional, integral, totitive, positive, negative, rational, irrational, surd, radical, real, complex, imaginary, finite, infinite, impossible, numerically, modulo.

N  cause, origin, source, principle, element, occasioner, prime mover, primum mobile, vera causa, author, mainspring, agent, leaven, groundwork, foundation, spring, fountain, well, font, fountainhead, spring head, wellhead, fons et origo, genesis, descent, remote cause, influence, pivot, hinge, turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum, key, proximate cause, causa causans, straw that breaks the camel's back, ground, reason, reason why, why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation, final cause, les dessous des cartes, undercurrents, rudiment, egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule, radicle, semen, sperm, nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed, causality, causation, origination, production, caused, causal, original, primary, primitive, primordial, aboriginal, protogenal, radical, embryonic, embryotic, in embryo, in ovo, seminal, germinal, at the bottom of, connate, having a common origin, because, behind the scenes, causa latet vis est notissima, felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.

VB  place, situate, locate, localize, make a place for, put, lay, set, seat, station, lodge, quarter, post, install, house, stow, establish, fix, pin, root, graft, plant, shelve, pitch, camp, lay down, deposit, reposit, cradle, moor, tether, picket, pack, tuck in, embed, imbed, vest, invest in, billet on, quarter upon, saddle with, load, lade, freight, pocket, put up, bag, inhabit, domesticate, colonize, take root, strike root, anchor, cast anchor, come to an anchor, sit down, settle down, settle, take up one's abode, take up one's quarters, plant oneself, establish oneself, locate oneself, squat, perch, hive, se nicher, bivouac, burrow, get a footing, encamp, pitch one's tent, put up at, put up one's horses at, keep house, endenizen, naturalize, adopt, put back, replace.

N  base, basement, plinth, dado, wainscot, baseboard, mopboard, bedrock, hardpan, foundation, substructure, substratum, ground, earth, pavement, floor, paving, flag, carped, ground floor, deck, footing, ground work, basis, hold, bilge, bottom, nadir, foot, sole, toe, hoof, keel, root, centerboard, bottom, undermost, nethermost, fundamental, founded on, based on, grounded on, built on.

adventitious root, ague root, alum root, black root rot fungus, blueberry root, brown root rot fungus, cahinca root, celery root, cervical root syndrome, characteristic root of a square matrix, chay root, chicory root, chocolate root, choy root, colic root, coral root, crested coral root, crinkle root, cube root, culver's root, culvers root, derris root, early coral root, hairy root, horseradish root, licorice root, mandrake root, pale coral root, papoose root, pepper root, pleurisy root, prop root, rattlesnake root, root beer, root beer float, root canal, root cap, root celery, root cellar, root climber, root crop, root hair, root out, root rot, root system, root vegetable, root word, sarsaparilla root, senega root, senga root, spotted coral root, square root, squaw root, stone root, striped coral root, take root, taro root, tinker's root, tooth root, tuba root, tuber root, turmeric root, unicorn root, yellow root