root

/ɹuːt/

root

English Noun Top 4,429
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Definition

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.

Etymology

PIE word *wréh₂ds From Middle English rote, root, roote (“the underground part of a plant”), from late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót (Icelandic rót), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”); Doublet of wort, radish, and radix.

Example Sentences

  • "This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground."
  • "A Greek historian Phylarchus describes a white root indigenous to India that caused eunuchism when a person bathed in water in which the root was steeped."
  • "A root caught Ulot's left foot and he almost fell."
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