definition of
root

[1] #1 root n. (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. wn

[2] #2 root v. take root and begin to grow; "this plant roots quickly". wn

[3] #3 root n. [beginning, origin, rootage, source] 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". wn

[4] #4 root n. [root word, base, stem, theme, radical] (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem". wn

[5] #5 root n. a number that, when multiplied by itself some number of times, equals a given number. wn