root

Noun

• the part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as support

• a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes

• someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

• the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation

• a number that, when multiplied by itself some number of times, equals a given number

• (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
  • thematic vowels are part of the stem
    

• the place where something begins, where it springs into being
  • the Italian beginning of the Renaissance
    
  • Jupiter was the origin of the radiation
    
  • Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River
    
  • communism's Russian root
    

• (botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground

Verb

• cause to take roots

• become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style
  • He finally settled down
    

• dig with the snout
  • the pig was rooting for truffles
    

• plant by the roots

• come into existence, originate
  • The problem roots in her depression
    

• take root and begin to grow
  • this plant roots quickly
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  tooth root , etymon , ancestor , ascendant , ascendent , antecedent , solution , root word , base , stem , theme , radical , beginning , origin , rootage , source , settle , take root , steady down , settle down , rout , rootle
• Antonyms: 
  descendant , descendent