root.
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.
Meaning & usage
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.
The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.
The root is the only part of the hair that is alive.
The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.
He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen.
The primary source; origin.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.
The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.
The root diameter is the minor diameter of an external thread and the major diameter of an internal one.
Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.
The cube root of 27 is 3.
A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”).
Multiply by root 2.
A zero (of an equation).
The single node of a tree that has no parent.
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.
A word from which another word or words are derived.
The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
The lowest place, position, or part.
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.
I have to log in as root before I do that.
The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.
I installed the files in the root directory.
A penis, especially the base of a penis.
Where this word comes from
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”).
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.
To get root or privileged access on (a computer system or mobile phone), often through bypassing some security mechanism.
We rooted his box and planted a virus on it.
I want to root my Android phone so I can remove the preinstalled crapware.
Where this word comes from
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”).
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
Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.
To root out; to abolish.
To tug or pull at the reins aggressively by driving the head downwards while wearing a bit.
To sexually penetrate.
Where this word comes from
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).
An act of rummaging or searching.
An act of sexual intercourse.
Fancy a root?
A sexual partner.
Where this word comes from
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).
To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.)
I'm rooting for you, don't let me down!
Where this word comes from
Possibly an alteration of rout (“to make a loud noise”), influenced by hoot.
Try it on your idea.
root has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.