root
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The underground part of a plant that holds it and takes in water
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rootIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹut
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
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.
The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
The embedded part of a bodily structure such as a tooth, nail, or hair
The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.
The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.
figurative
The primary source; origin.
verb
To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
To fix firmly; to establish.
intransitive
To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.
intransitive
Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.
intransitivewith "for" or "on"US
To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of.
by extension
To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, root is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage.
The process of putting forth roots and beginning to grow.
An enthusiastic devotee of sports.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Grown for its thickened edible aromatic root.
An excavation where root vegetables are stored.
A plant that climbs by its adventitious roots e.g. ivy.
Crop grown for its enlarged roots: e.g. beets.
Thin hairlike outgrowth of an epidermal cell just behind the tip.
Pull up by or as if by the roots.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A fungus resembling slime mold that causes swellings or distortions of the roots of cabbages and related plants.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.