root

English Online Dictionary. What means root‎? What does root mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ro͞ot, IPA^(key): /ɹuːt/
• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ɹʉt/
• (Midwestern US) IPA^(key): /ɹʊt/
• Rhymes: -uːt, -ʊt
• Homophones: route (some pronunciations), rute

Etymology 1

From Middle English rote, root, roote (“the underground part of a plant”), from late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót (Icelandic rót), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”); Doublet of wort, radish, and radix.

Noun

root (countable and uncountable, plural roots)

2. 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.

   Hyponym: taproot
3. A root vegetable.
4. The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.

5. The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.

6. The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.

7. (figurative) The primary source; origin.

   Synonyms: basis, origin, source

   • , Book 1

     They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people.
8. (aviation) The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.
9. (engineering) The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.

   Antonym: crest

10. (arithmetic) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.

    Hyponyms: cube root, functional root, square root

11. (arithmetic) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, "the root of" is often abbreviated to "root").
    • 1899, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (transl.), The New Life (La Vita Nuova) of Dante Alighieri, Siddall edition, page 122.

      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.

13. (mathematical analysis) A zero (of an equation).

    Synonym: zero

    Antonym: pole

    Holonym: kernel

14. (graph theory, computing) The single node of a tree that has no parent.
15. (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.

    Coordinate term: stem
16. (linguistics) A word from which another word or words are derived.

    Synonym: etymon

17. (music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
18. The lowest place, position, or part.
19. (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.

    Synonyms: superuser, root account, root user

20. (computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.

    Coordinate term: home directory

21. (slang) A penis, especially the base of a penis.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Irish: rúta

Translations

See also

Other terms used in arithmetic operations:

Advanced hyperoperations: tetration, pentation, hexation

Verb

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.
2. To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.

3. To fix firmly; to establish.
5. (computing slang, transitive) To get root or privileged access on (a computer system or mobile phone), often through bypassing some security mechanism.

   Synonym: (mobile phone) jailbreak

Translations

Etymology 2

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).

Alternative forms

• wrout, rout (dialectal)
• wroot (obsolete)

Verb

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

2. (ambitransitive) To turn up or dig with the snout.
   • c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:

     Such tunges ſhuld be torne out by the harde rootes,
     Hoyning like hogges that groynis and wrotes.

3. (by extension) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
4. (intransitive) To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.

   Synonyms: dig out, root out, rummage

5. (intransitive) Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.
6. (transitive) To root out; to abolish.
7. (equestrianism, of a horse) To tug or pull at the reins aggressively by driving the head downwards while wearing a bit.
8. (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, vulgar, slang) To sexually penetrate.

   Synonyms: screw, bang, (US) drill, (British) shag; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

Usage notes

• The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense is somewhat milder than fuck but still quite coarse, and certainly not for polite conversation. The sexual sense will often be understood, unless care is taken with the context to make the rummage sense clear, or root through or root around is used. The past participle rooted is equivalent to fucked in the figurative sense of broken or tired, but rooting has only the direct verbal sense; it is not an all-purpose intensive like fucking.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

root (plural roots)

1. An act of rummaging or searching.
2. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) An act of sexual intercourse.

   Synonyms: (UK, US) screw, (UK) shag; see also Thesaurus:copulation
3. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) A sexual partner.

   Synonym: (US) screw

Usage notes

• The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense of root is somewhat milder than fuck but still quite coarse, certainly not for polite conversation. The normal usage is to have a root or similar.

Translations

Etymology 3

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

Verb

root (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.) [late 19th century]

   Synonyms: (Australia, New Zealand) barrack, cheer on

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Toor, Toro, roto, roto-, toro, troo

Chinese

Etymology

Borrowed from English root.

Pronunciation

Verb

root

1. (computing slang) to root (an Android device) (to get root or privileged access)

   這部手機root後不保修。 [MSC, trad.]
   这部手机root后不保修。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè bù shǒujī root hòu bù bǎoxiū. [Pinyin]

   This mobile phone is no longer under warranty if it is rooted.

See also

• 越獄／越狱 (yuèyù, “to jailbreak”)

French

Pronunciation

Noun

root m (plural roots)

1. (computing) root

German Low German

Alternative forms

• raud
• rauth
• rod, rood
• rot, roth

Etymology

From Old Saxon rōd, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós < *h₁rewdʰ-. Compare Dutch rood, German rot, West Frisian read, English red, Danish rød.

Adjective

root (comparative röder, superlative röödst)

1. red

Declension

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch rōt, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from the root *h₁rewdʰ-.

Adjective

rôot

1. red

Inflection

Descendants

• Dutch: rood
  • Afrikaans: rooi
  • Jersey Dutch: rôi
  • Negerhollands: rooi, ro, roo, rood
  • Skepi Creole Dutch: aro
• Limburgish: roead

Further reading

• “root”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “root (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

root

1. alternative form of rote (“root”)

Etymology 2

Noun

root

1. alternative form of rote (“habit”)

Etymology 3

Noun

root

1. alternative form of rot

Plautdietsch

Etymology

From Middle Low German rōt, from Old Saxon rōd.

Adjective

root

1. red

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English root.

Pronunciation

Noun

root m (plural roots)

1. (computing) root (user with complete access to the operating system)