root

  • (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.
  • (noun): A root vegetable.
  • (noun): The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
  • (noun): The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.
  • (noun): The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.
  • (noun): The primary source; origin.
  • (noun): Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.
  • (noun): A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”).
  • (noun): A zero (of an equation).
  • (noun): The single node of a tree that has no parent.
  • (noun): 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.
  • (noun): (philology) A word from which another word or words are derived.
  • (noun): The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
  • (noun): The lowest place, position, or part.
  • (noun): 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.
  • (noun): The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.
  • (noun): A penis, especially the base of a penis.
  • (verb): To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
  • (verb): To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings
  • (verb): To be firmly fixed; to be established.
  • (verb): To get root or priviledged access on a computer system or mobile phone, often through bypassing some security mechanism.
  • This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.
  • Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.
  • The root is the only part of the hair that is alive.
  • He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen.
  • The love of money is the root of all evil.