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Added 8 October 2026

root

/ɹuːt/ noun

In Latin: rādīx Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about root at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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.
This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.
A root vegetable.
The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.

verb

To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
The cuttings are starting to root.
To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.
We rooted some cuttings last summer.
To fix firmly; to establish.

verb

To turn up or dig with the snout.
A pig roots the earth for truffles.
To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.
rooting about in a junk-filled drawer

noun

An act of rummaging or searching.
An act of sexual intercourse.
Fancy a root?
A sexual partner.

Origin

PIE word *wréh₂ds From Middle English rote, root, roote (“the underground part of a plant”), from late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót (“root”), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“root”), from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”); Doublet of wort, radish, and radix. Cognate with Scots ruit, rute (“root”), Danish rod (“root”), Faroese and Icelandic rót (“root”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish rot (“root”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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