1. (v. i.) To turn up the earth with the snout, as swine.

2. (v. i.) Hence, to seek for favor or advancement by low arts or groveling servility; to fawn servilely.

3. (v. t.) To turn up or to dig out with the snout; as, the swine roots the earth.

4. (n.) The underground portion of a plant, whether a true root or a tuber, a bulb or rootstock, as in the potato, the onion, or the sweet flag.

5. (n.) The descending, and commonly branching, axis of a plant, increasing in length by growth at its extremity only, not divided into joints, leafless and without buds, and having for its offices to fix the plant in the earth, to supply it with moisture and soluble matters, and sometimes to serve as a reservoir of nutriment for future growth. A true root, however, may never reach the ground, but may be attached to a wall, etc., as in the ivy, or may hang loosely in the air, as in some epiphytic orchids.

6. (n.) An edible or esculent root, especially of such plants as produce a single root, as the beet, carrot, etc.; as, the root crop.

7. (n.) That which resembles a root in position or function, esp. as a source of nourishment or support; that from which anything proceeds as if by growth or development; as, the root of a tooth, a nail, a cancer, and the like.

8. (n.) An ancestor or progenitor; and hence, an early race; a stem.

9. (n.) A primitive form of speech; one of the earliest terms employed in language; a word from which other words are formed; a radix, or radical.

10. (n.) The cause or occasion by which anything is brought about; the source.

11. (n.) That factor of a quantity which when multiplied into itself will produce that quantity; thus, 3 is a root of 9, because 3 multiplied into itself produces 9; 3 is the cube root of 27.

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

13. (n.) The lowest place, position, or part.

14. (n.) The time which to reckon in making calculations.

15. (v. i.) To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.

16. (v. i.) To be firmly fixed; to be established.

17. (v. t.) To plant and fix deeply in the earth, or as in the earth; to implant firmly; hence, to make deep or radical; to establish; -- used chiefly in the participle; as, rooted trees or forests; rooted dislike.

18. (v. t.) To tear up by the root; to eradicate; to extirpate; -- with up, out, or away.

IC analysis accidence acclaim affix affixation allomorph ancestors anchor antecedents applaud base basis beat the bushes bed bed on bedrock beginning birthplace boost bottom bottom on bound morpheme bring to light bud build on bulb bulbil burgeon burrow burst forth catch cause cheer cheer on clap clap the hands cognate commencement completely conception confirm conjugation core corm cradle cutting declension deep-dye define delve derivation derivative descent destroy develop difference of form dig dig out dig up discover doublet drive on egg on eliminate embed enclitic encore encourage engraft engrave entirely entrench eponym eradicate essentiality establish etch etymon explore exterminate extirpate family family tree fatherland ferret find fix flourish footing forage forebears forefathers formative found found on foundation fount fountain fountainhead free form frisk gemmate genealogy genesis germinate give a hand go through goad on grass roots ground ground on groundwork grow grow rank hail hasten on head hear it for heart heritage hie on hound on house hunt hurry on imbed immediate constituent analysis impact implant impress imprint inception infix infixation inflection infrastructure ingrain inscribe jam leaf leaf out leave lineage lodge look around look round look through luxuriate marrow morph morpheme morphemic analysis morphemics morphology morphophonemics motherland nose nose around origin original origination origins overgrow overrun pack paradigm pedigree pith plant poke poke around predecessors prefix prefixation primitive print proclitic provenance provenience pry pullulate put forth put forth leaves put out buds quick quintessence radical radically radicle radix ransack research rhizome riot rise rock bottom root and branch root for root on root out root up roots rootstock rummage search search through seat set set in set on settle shoot shoot up smell around soul source speed on spread sprout sprout up spur on stamp stem stereotype stick stick fast stock strike root stuff substance substratum suffix suffixation support take root tap taproot theme thrive totally tuber tubercle turn up uncover undergird underlie underpinning unearth uproot upspear upsprout urge on utterly vegetate