root

noun
UK: /ruːt/
US: /ruːt/

  1. The part of a plant that grows underground and gets water and food.

    1. The tree's root went deep into the ground, so it never fell. [ ] [ ]
    2. The strong root of this old tree made it very difficult to remove completely. [ ] [ ]

  2. The origin or main part of something.

    1. Money is said to be the root of all evil, and that is often true. [ ] [ ]
    2. We need to find the root cause of the problem before we can fix it properly. [ ] [ ]

  3. The basic form of a word, without any endings.

    1. “Care” is the root of words like “careful” and “careless”. [ ] [ ]
    2. The root word 'port' appears in many English words related to carrying. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

foundation source origin cause base
root verb

  1. To grow roots or fix something with roots.

    1. This plant will root easily if you put it in water first, like my mom always does. [ ] [ ]
    2. The ivy had root itself to the wall, making it difficult to pull away during removal. [ ] [ ]

  2. To find the origin or cause of something.

    1. Let's root out all the errors in this document before sending it. [ ] [ ]
    2. The journalist tried to root out corruption within the local government body. [ ] [ ]

  3. To show support for a team or person in a competition.

    1. I always root for the local team when they are playing away. [ ] [ ]
    2. Everyone will root for you when you compete in the final tournament, so do your best. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "root" in English means: The part of a plant that grows underground and gets water and food., The origin or main part of something., The basic form of a word, without any endings..

The phonetic transcription of "root" is /ruːt/ in British English and /ruːt/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "root": foundation, source, origin, cause, base.

Example usage of "root": "The tree's root went deep into the ground, so it never fell.". More examples on the page.