Background for roots

roots

/ɹuːts/

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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.

Examples :

"The strong roots of the oak tree held it firmly in place during the storm. "

plant biology anatomy organism vegetable agriculture nature part

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noun

A root vegetable.

Examples :

"Many people enjoy eating roots like carrots and potatoes. "

vegetable food plant agriculture

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noun

The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.

Examples :

"Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing."

anatomy part body

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noun

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

Examples :

"The root is the only part of the hair that is alive."

anatomy body physiology part

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noun

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

Examples :

"He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen."

appearance body part

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noun

The primary source; origin.

Examples :

"The love of money is the root of all evil."

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noun

Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.

Examples :

"The cube root of 27 is 3."

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noun

A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”).

Examples :

"Multiply by root 2."

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noun

A zero (of an equation).

Examples :

"The quadratic equation has two roots: -3 and 5. "

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noun

The single node of a tree that has no parent.

Examples :

"In a family tree, the earliest ancestor we know about is the roots of our family's history. "

plant part nature biology organism

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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.

Examples :

"Many English words, like "construction," share the same roots as the word "structure," showing their related meanings. "

grammar linguistics word language structure

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noun

(philology) A word from which another word or words are derived.

Examples :

"The word "photograph" has Greek roots; "photo" means light, and "graph" means to write. "

language linguistics word

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noun

The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.

Examples :

"In the C major chord, the note "C" is the most important because it's the roots, and all the other notes in the chord are related to it. "

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noun

The lowest place, position, or part.

Examples :

"The missing homework assignment remained buried at the roots of his backpack, crumpled and forgotten. "

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noun

Examples :

"I have to log in as root before I do that."

computing system internet technology job

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noun

The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.

Examples :

"I installed the files in the root directory."

computing structure

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noun

A penis, especially the base of a penis.

body organ anatomy sex

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noun

An act of sexual intercourse.

Examples :

"Fancy a root?"

sex action body human

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noun

A sexual partner.

sex person human

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noun

Examples :

"I have both Irish and German roots."

family history race

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noun

Beginnings; origin.

Examples :

"Jazz has its roots in blues."