| 释义 |
rootn.1 Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic rót , Faroese rót , Norn (Shetland) reithin (dative plural, with (analogical) mutated stem vowel), Norwegian rot , Old Swedish rot (Swedish rot ), Old Danish root , rot (Danish rod )) < an ablaut variant of the same Indo-European base as (with zero grade) wort n.1 and (with suffixation) classical Latin rādīx radix n. and probably also ancient Greek ῥίζα root (see rhizo- comb. form). The Scandinavian nouns show simplification of an original initial consonant cluster, as do their Latin and Greek cognates.The word is originally a Germanic feminine athematic consonant stem, which in the historical Scandinavian languages would be expected to show variation in stem vowel resulting from i-mutation, as Old Icelandic rót , plural rœtr (compare goose n., louse n., mouse n., etc.); there is no trace of this variation in the English borrowing. In Old English the word was assimilated to the strong feminine ō -stem declension (rōt , plural rōta ); the existence of a weak feminine by-form (rōte , plural rōtan ) is also suggested by the earliest Middle English evidence (compare quots. c11751 at sense 2a and c1175 at sense 7a(a)). In root of scarcity (see sense 1b) after German †Mangelwurz (1561; variant of Mangelwurzel mangel-wurzel n.). With figurative use of the word (see branch II.) compare early figurative use of rootfast adj. In root of the matter (see quot. 1611 at sense 8b) originally after Hebrew šōrĕš dāḇār (Job 19:28, the passage translated in the quot.; < šōrĕš root, essence + dāḇār matter, issue, transferred use of dāḇār word, speech: see abracadabra n.). With the transferred uses in senses 7, 8, 9, 10 compare the corresponding (partly classical, partly post-classical) senses of classical Latin rādīx radix n. In root of David, root of Jesse at sense 9b after post-classical Latin radix David, radix Iesse (both in the Vulgate); compare also Anglo-Norman racine Jessé (c1325 in a translation of the Bible), Old French raiz Jessé (second half of the 12th cent.), and also rod n.1 2b. In senses 14 and 15a after the corresponding post-classical senses ‘starting point’ and ‘square root’ of classical Latin rādīx radix n. With sense 15a, compare Old French, Middle French, French racine (13th cent. in this sense, originally in racine cube cube root); with sense 15b compare French racine (1690 in this sense). In the United States, the short-vowel pronunciation /rʊt/ is recorded by Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. chiefly from the north-east (New England and upstate New York) and the Upper Midwest. This pronunciation is already given by a small number of late-18th-cent. and 19th-cent. dictionaries, most notably in Webster (1828, 1845). Compare foot n., soot n.1 Attested early as a place-name element in the field name Svarterote , Westmorland (c1180; now lost), although this almost certainly reflects the Scandinavian rather than the Old English word; perhaps even earlier (in sense ‘tree root, tree stump’) in Rotelei , Warwickshire (1086; now Ratley), although the first element has been alternatively explained as showing either Old English rōt cheerful or the derived byname Rōta . The usual words in Old English are wyrttruma (compare quot. c1175 at sense 7a(a)) and wyrtwala wartwale n. I. The underground part of a plant, and extended uses. 1. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > [noun] > root of vegetable the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > root vegetable > [noun] the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > plant used in medicine > root OE Recipe (Vitell. C.iii) in T. O. Cockayne (1864) I. 378 Nim horsellenes rota & eftgewæxen barc, & dry swyðe & mac to duste. lOE (Corpus Cambr. 303) (1980) 102 Se godes freond cwæð þæt he leofode be weode and be wyrtan roten, and be wæteres drence. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 3213 Hiss drinnch wass waterr..Hiss mete wilde rotess. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) 15917 Þat folc..lufeden bi wurten, bi moren, and bi rote. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 8338 Hii ete Hor hors & hor hiden, &..Wo þat miȝte weodes abbe & þe roten [B. v.rr. rotene, rotes] gnawe. a1375 (c1350) (1867) 638 (MED) Haue ȝe..a-saide ones & feled þe sauor & þe swetnesse þat sittes in þe rote, hit schal..do vanisch ȝour soris. ?a1425 (Egerton) (1889) 30 (MED) Þai liffe with dates and rutes and herbes. 1490 (1962) xxi. 70 He hath in his house a rote that..shal gyf me help. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. (1882–7) xxi. 63 I haue eten none other thynge but rootes & frutes. 1588 T. Harriot Virginia in S. Purchas (1625) III. 272 That kind of root which the Spaniards in the West Indies call Cassavy, whereupon also many called it by that name. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. iii. 82 Or haue we eaten on the insane Root, That takes the Reason Prisoner? View more context for this quotation 1617 F. Moryson i. 34 Corne fields set with cabbages and roots. 1671 J. Milton i. 339 We here Live on tough roots and stubs, to thirst inur'd More then the Camel. View more context for this quotation 1705 F. Fuller 105 These Roots may be so manag'd by a good hand as to be eat as Food. 1763 (1764) 1 332 This root would..fill them up with flashy fat. 1801 Jan. 113 Very few turnips are with us this season; this root having generally failed. 1879 (new ed.) IV. 237/1 Cattle require their ‘roots’ to be carted from the field to the homestead. 1915 C. Greer i. xiv. 59 All roots and tubers contain carbohydrate, although not in so large a proportion as cereals. 1951 R. P. Buliard v. 167 They also dig from the ground a root called ‘Maso’, insipid and quite diuretic, but nevertheless appreciated. 2000 J. Cummings 18 Seasoned with native herbs and roots such as tà-khrái (lemongrass) and khàa (galangal). 1785 G. Washington Let. c23 Nov. in (1994) Revolutionary War Ser. III. 381 Mrs Washington presents her..thanks to Mrs Dulany for the Roots of Scarcity. 1787 tr. Abbé de Commerell 2 I have made use of the last denomination, the Root of Scarcity, because it is a literal translation of the name often given to it [sc. the mangel-wurzel] by the Germans. 1801 Jan. 87 In the mean time, all, rich and poor, have the greatest abundance of the root of plenty, potatoes. 1841 12 No. 53. 21 This improver on a small scale grows carrots largely, which he calls the root of abundance, and which he gives his horses in place of oats. 1856 Mar. 312 Every one seems in accord upon the character and value of this excellent nutrimental ‘root of plenty’. 1907 No. 244. 103 In the 18th century it [sc. the mangel wurzel] was popularly known in Germany as ‘the root of scarcity’, and it was under this name that it was introduced into England. 2001 M. Pollan iv. 202 Arthur Young..had traveled to Ireland and returned convinced that the potato was ‘a root of plenty’ that could protect England's poor from hunger. the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > using plants > spell 1889 June 628/1 All de time de conjurer ke' on wukkin' his roots. 1935 Z. N. Hurston 340 Nearly all of the conjure doctors practice ‘roots’. 1962 75 313 Local synonyms for the spell are ‘curse’, ‘trick’, ‘fix’, ‘conjure’, ‘root’, and ‘hoodoo’. 1999 M. Hegwood xxvii. 182 He said Mouton's mother has put a root on me and it's going to kill me. 2. the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] c1175 ( (Bodl. 343) (1894) 4 He hæfde an fet..iwroht & þæt wæs ifylled of þæt ylce watere & þa ȝyrdæ þeron asette for þan ðe he nolde þæt ða roten [OE Kansas Y 103 ða wyrtruman] fordruȝode wæron. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 10064 Þatt axe shollde þa beon sett Rihht att te treowwess rote. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 219 (MED) Þe huuemeste bou of þe treuwe springed of þe neþemeste rote. c1300 Childhood Jesus (Laud) (heading) in C. Horstmann (1875) 1st Ser. 7 (MED) Here comaundede Jhus þat treo þat wellene sprounguen out is Rotene, and it bi feol þat Marie and Josep þerof dronken. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. 96 Mi plouh-pote schal be my pyk and posshen atte Rootes. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 1346 (MED) Þis tre was of a mikel heght..And to þe rotte [Gött. rote] he kest his he. ?c1475 (BL Add. 15562) f. 106v A Rute, radix, stirps, radicula. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1957) iv. viii. l. 80 Als far hys rute doith spreid Deip vndir erth. 1573 T. Tusser (new ed.) f. 42v Get..a parer..to pare away grasse, & to rayse vp the roote. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher i. ii. 98 Though we leaue it with a roote thus hackt, The Ayre will drinke the Sap. View more context for this quotation 1675 N. Grew ii. ii. 49 What the mouth is, to an Animal; that the Root is to a Plant. 1727 J. G. Scheuchzer tr. E. Kæmpfer II. v. x. 492 In the neighbouring country grows that particular sort of reed..whose roots are made use of for walking canes, and imported into Europe. 1751 T. Gray xxvi. 10 Yonder nodding beech That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high. 1816 P. B. Shelley 37 Ancient pines Branchless and blasted, clenched with grasping roots The unwilling soil. 1856 C. Speir 32 In the banyan these roots usually proceed from the outer branches, reach the ground, and become supports. 1902 July 11 Their roots [sc. of epiphytic orchids] are adnate to the bark, exposed on one side to the air, and form projecting lines and ridges, ramifying in all directions. 1920 L. H. Bailey i. ii. 11 The trumpet-creeper, true or English ivy, and poison ivy climb by means of roots. The roots often remain on the wall or other support after the plant is torn off. 1957 11 May 9/6 The secret to weed destruction by hoeing is to..mutilate the weeds, chopping them off, not just lifting them our of the soil complete with the roots. 2003 H. Adés & M. Graham (ed. 2) 529 Like all mangroves it [sc. the red mangrove] has a convoluted mass of arching roots, which support it in the unstable sandy shoreline soils. 2006 A. Steffen et al. (2008) 257/1 Shallow swales and holes called rain gardens can catch runoff and let it trickle slowly through soil and roots. the world > plants > part of plant > root > plant defined by roots > have root [verb (intransitive)] > take root c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 145 Euery gras þt groweth vp on roote She shal eek knowe. ?a1475 (1922) 161 (MED) I am hevy heed and footte; I xulde stumbyll at resch and root And I xuld goo a myle. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Trial of Fox l. 1001 in (1981) 42 Ouer ron and rute thay ran togidder raith. 1573 T. Tusser (new ed.) f. 35v Thy garden plot..well clensed & purged, of roote & of stone. 1657 J. Beale 16 That the setlings might gather root as well in that vulgar ground, as also in the finer mould. 1725 R. Bradley at Root-grafting Which Piece of Root will draw in Sap, and nourish the Graft. 1793 J. Trapp tr. A. Rochon 390 The tripam is a little spungy plant without root, and like a mushroom. 1856 G. Glenny 263 The object of this is to let them make root when inclined, but not to grow any until wanted. 1889 23 303 Slender, tall canes can be gotten down easily and quickly without digging at root. 1909 17 25 The plant is a living growth, which has put out root, stem, and leaf. 1972 358/2 Q is the rate of uptake per unit length of root from a stirred solution having a concentration C. 1998 G. Hollingshead iii. 215 Stony clotted yellow loam..amongst the veinous wheels of root. the world > plants > [noun] > plant, herb, or weed the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > root or plant a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 161 Weste is cleped..wildernesse ges [read gef] þare manie rotes onne wacseð. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) iv. l. 2096 (MED) Ther was no ston, ther was no rote Which mihte letten hem the weie, But al was voide and take aweie. a1500 (c1410) (Hunterian) (1980) ii. 253 (MED) A wyckyd weed is clene clensyd out of a lond whan þe rote is drawyn away, and til whan þe rote is drawyn up, þe lond is nout clene clensyd ne wel wedyd. 1578 J. Rolland 181 Sa Galiene..To pull the rute lawlie he did Inclinde. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie (1888) I. 36 The herb gude to give the cattel against the rute that thay cal trifoly. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. iv. 39 As Gardeners doe with Ordure hide those Roots That shall first spring, and be most delicate. View more context for this quotation 1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 65 in Transplant such Fibrous-roots..as Violets, Hepatica, Prim-roses. 1744 J. Bartram Dec. (1992) 250 Two roots of fern & A prety creeping spring Lychnioides. 1786 J. Abercrombie Arrangem. Plants 81 in The propagation of bulbous and tuberous roots for general supply. 1858 C. Kingsley 137 That roots, which parch in burning sand, May bud to flower and fruit again. 1881 16 367 The first season after planting, it [sc. a flowering quince] just remained alive and made no show of growth; after that it began to grow by sprouts from the root. 1912 A. D. Wilson & C. W. Warburton v. xxvii. 533 Biennial weeds are neither as numerous nor as difficult to eradicate as..the perennials with their persistent roots. 1936 22 Feb. 15/6 Every year fresh stems are thrown up from the root, absorbing the vigour of the plant. 2001 21 Jan. ix. 8/5 Many clivia owners divide and breed their own plants. Clivia send up ‘pups’ or shoots from their fleshy roots. 4. the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [noun] > root or base c1225 (?c1200) (Bodl.) (1981) l. 776 (MED) He..het..rende ham up..wið þe breost roten [Royal breoste roten]. c1330 (?a1300) (1886) l. 1485 (MED) His tong haþ he..schorn of bi þe rote. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 83 Hote wommannes melk helpiþ þis crampe if it is I-doo hoot..vppon þe rigge bone & þe necke & þe rootes of þe synowis. a1440 (Digby Rolls 4) 14 (MED) Yff any lyne aryse fro the rote of the thombe and thwertith ouer the lyne of lyfe, it toknyth long jornes. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert f. xxxiii If they be nat kyld they wol..eate the rotes of the horse eares and kyll hym. 1580 T. Blundeville (rev. ed.) iv. cxvii. 54 A malander..hath long haires with stubborne roots. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. ii. 18 Each false [word] Be as a Cantherizing to the root o' th' Tongue. View more context for this quotation 1751 iv. ii. 184 There is a black Spot near the Root of each of the pectoral Fins. 1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere ii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge 14 Every tongue thro' utter drouth Was wither'd at the root. 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence (1818) II. xix. 145 The rightful queen..seized her with her jaws near the root of the wings. 1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. V. 151 Most frequently it starts from the root of the lung. 1970 G. F. Newman viii. 213 Brown roots growing through her split blonde hair. 2002 July 209/3 Never cut your cuticles—it can damage the root of your nail. the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > fact or action of being connected or connecting > [noun] > connecting > one who or that which > that which > part by which anything is connected 1632 W. Lithgow i. 22 The breadth of Italy at the roote and beginning thereof,..from the Adriaticke coast, to the riviera di Genoa. 1707 H. Sloane I. 52 The outward Surface of this Coral, was, from what we may call the Root, upwards, rayed, striated, or waved by many Lines on its Surface. 1840 3 237/1 A wooden jetty has been run out from the root of the pier. 1881 F. J. Britten (ed. 4) 19 In watches the roots of all the wheels and pinions are left square except the roots of the barrel or great wheel teeth and the roots of the centre pinion leaves. 1910 14 115 The angle of incidence of each wing gradually decreases from the root to the tip. 2004 P. Gipe vi. 112/1 Struts reduce bending on the root of the blade where it attaches to the hub. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > [noun] > part of precious stone 1695 J. Woodward 173 Their Root, (as the Jewellers call it) which is only the Abruptness at that end of the Body whereby it adhered to the Stone. 1776 Lady A. Miller III. 203 As to the coloured precious stones they are by no means good, being for the most part clouded and streaky, and many of them no better than the root of emerald, amethyst, ruby, &c. 1867 A. Billing 126 A large piece of veiny, cloudy root of amethyst, 2½ inches by 2 inches (not good enough to rank as a jewel). 1929 3 99 This is a gem of the Hellenistic period..in green plasma or root-of-emerald. 2009 (Nexis) 2 Mar. 6 The baubles were..wonderfully eclectic, as in the horn-petal necklace jazzed up with flakes of emerald, amethyst and pyrite root. 5. the world > space > relative position > low position > [noun] > lowest position > bottom or lowest part the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun] > foot a1382 (Bodl. 959) (1961) Deut. iii. 17 Yc haue ȝeue þe lond of Galaad..& þe teermys of cenereth vnto þe see off desert..to þe rootys of þe hul of phasga aȝeyns þe eest. c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 58 Ther is at the west syde of Ytaille Doun at the roote of vesulus the colde A lusty playne. 1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster sig. Dvjv Mountaynes..at the rootes wherof are found Rubines, Hiacinthes. 1579 III. 189 That na thing remane within the clois about the rute of the tour bot the dur thairof. 1656 A. Cowley Davideis i. 19 in Numbers which still encrease more high and wide From One, the root of their turn'd Pyramide. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot ii. 74 A rock.., at the root whereof there is a little spring of Water. 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti I. 11/1 That Stream..continually undermining and eating away the Root of the Mountain. 1844 E. B. Barrett Drama of Exile in I. 111 Split the charnel earth To the roots of the grave. 1897 A. Geikie I. 12 There will thus be a constant pressure of the molten magma into the roots of volcanoes. 1924 26 June 19/6 There abides only the voice of the river under the roots of the mountains, singing its ancient song. 2006 D. H. Erwin ii. 25 Mountain ranges have deep roots of low-density rock that project down into the high-density mantle. society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > screw > thread > parts of thread 1865 9 278 Every part of the bolt, the diameter of the root of the threads, the heads..&c., was capable of being expressed in a general formula. 1892 (Britannia Co., Colchester) iii. 39 The diameter at the root of the thread. 1964 S. Crawford (1969) xiv. 299 The root is the bottom portion of the groove between the flanking surfaces of the thread. 2002 H. Rees (ed. 2) xix. 449 There is always the danger of tool marks (scoring) at the root of the thread. the world > life > the body > sex organs > male sex organs > [noun] > penis 1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ (new ed.) 119/1 Flash, to sport, to expose, he flashed his root. 1927 165 There once was a man of St. Clair Who tried to bugger a bear, But the nasty old brute Took a snatch at his root, And left nothing but bollocks and hair. 1976 G. Ryga i. 12 He also sold french safes under the counter to any boy having trouble with his root. 2002 S. Home viii. 115 Realising more or less what must have happened, I felt even hornier than usual when Alan shoved his root up my buttered bun. II. Abstract and figurative uses. 7. a. The source, origin, or cause of a quality, condition, tendency, etc. (esp. an undesirable one). c1175 ( Ælfric Homily in A. O. Belfour (1909) 134 Ðeo grædiȝnesse is, swa swa þe apostolus Paulus sæde, rotæ [OE Cambr. Gg.3.28 wyrtruma] of ylc ufel; & þeo soðæ lufe is rotæ [OE Cambr. Gg.3.28 wyrtruma] ylces godes. ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 44 Biginnunge & rote of al þis ilke reuðe wes alicht sichte. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxvi. 1354 Oon is more and roote and welle of multitude. 1467–8 (Electronic ed.) Parl. June 1467 §24. m. 32 It was shewed..that justice was grounde well and rote of all prosperite. a1500 (c1477) T. Norton (BL Add.) (1975) l. 1487 (MED) Practice is rote & bygynnynge Of speculacion and of alle connynge. 1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ sig. Ciijv This [sc. a desire of gold] is the roote of all the mischife. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. iii. 90 The Root of his Opinion, which is rotten, As euer Oake, or Stone was sound. View more context for this quotation 1690 G. Burnet 12 What can raise in men a generous love to their Country, which is the root of all Political Virtues, to so high a degree as the Principles of Christian Love and Charity. 1711 R. Steele No. 48. ⁋4 I have several Follies which I do not know the Root of. 1720 A. Ramsay 145 Malicious envy! root of a' debates. a1822 P. B. Shelley Charles I i, in (1870) II. 375 The root of all this ill is prelacy. 1884 B. Bosanquet et al. tr. H. Lotze 513 The root of all these difficulties seems to be a confusion in our idea of..an acting force. 1930 R. S. Woodworth (ed. 8) xiii. 568 Many psychotherapists avoid the use of hypnosis because, as they say, it does not get to the root of the trouble. 1978 M. J. N. Baker ii. 55 The source of the Victorian actor's growing respectability was also the root of his artistic weakness. 2002 17 June 20/2 This belief in music as cognitive Red Bull is also the root of Johnson's long-standing antipathy toward the advertising industry. a1350 in G. L. Brook (1968) 36 (MED) Richard, rote of resoun ryht..on molde y holde þe murgest mon. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 98 (MED) Persones and prestes and prechoures of holy cherche..aren rote of þe riȝte faith to reule þe peple. c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Ellesmere) (1875) G. §4. l. 1069 I wol it verifie In this Chanoun, roote of alle trecherie. c1460 (?c1400) 4015 (MED) The Burgeysis of the town of falshede..were rote. ?c1500 (Digby) l. 1671 O blyssyd womman, rote of ower savacyon. 1549 H. Latimer sig. Cvi These flattering clawbackes are originall rotes of all mischyue. 1590 E. Spenser ii. vii. sig. S2v All otherwise..I riches read, And deeme them roote of all disquietnesse. 1617 F. Moryson ii. iii. i. 219 The Arch Traitor, a Monster of ingratitude to her, and the roote of miserie to her people. 1667 J. Milton ix. 645 To the Tree Of prohibition, root of all our woe. View more context for this quotation 1745 G. Cheyne (ed. 10) vii. 227 The Scurvy is the Root of most chronical Diseases of the British Nation. 1776 E. Pendleton Let. 11 Oct. in (1967) I. 203 He has been longing after a sight of the Camp ever since Lord Howe's arrival, but alas the want of ‘the Root of all evil’ restrains him, and he must be content. 1822 Sept. 360 It would be inexcusable..to overlook him [sc. God], who is the root of every thing good and lovely. 1871 S. Doudney xv. 91 ‘Are they connected in any way with Sir Oscar Northwood?’ ‘In every way..he is the root of this evil.’ 1930 L. Barnes 46 To impress indelibly upon him that the British are the root of all offence. 2005 95 534/2 A repressed desire for the mother that is well documented in the popular literature on mom-ism (mothers as the root of all men's problems). the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 11658 Alle fule lusstess. Biginnenn þære. & springenn ut. Off gluterrnessess rote. ?a1300 Suete Ihu King (Digby) in C. Brown (1932) 92 (MED) Swete ihesu..In min herte þou sette a rote Of þi loue. c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Heb. xii. 15 Sue ȝe pees with alle men..biholdinge..that no roote of bitternesse [L. radix amaritudinis] vpward burionynge lette. ?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif (1880) 173 (MED) Here herte is ouermoche on worldly goodis..& this is a venymous rote þat makiþ here seruyce & preieris not acceptable to god. c1475 (?c1400) (1842) 91 Wene we not þe gospel to be..in þe leuis of wordis but in rot of resoun. a1513 J. Irland (1965) II. 123 And sene the werkis and operacioun..proced all of a rute, that is, the liberte of the man. 1564 in J. H. Burton (1877) 1st Ser. I. 291 Hir Majestie wald nocht that ony rute were left behind, quhilk mycht engender ony new displesour or grudge betuix thame. 1603 H. Crosse sig. D3v Considering those inconueniencies that rise out of the roote of aboundance. 1671 J. Milton 1032 Or was too much of self-love mixt, Of constancy no root infixt. View more context for this quotation 1718 A. Malcolm ii. 132 The Stock you are to look upon as the Root, from which all the other Accompts in the Book..do flow. 1781 W. Cowper 111 Faith, the root whence only can arise The graces of a life that wins the skies. 1823 T. Moore 3rd Angel's Story in x Humility, that low, sweet root From which all heavenly virtues shoot. 1894 A. G. Spencer in J. W. Hanson 912 The ancestor-worship of Greece and Rome..was the root from which grew the social customs of their dual civilization. 1912 J. Rhoades 5 Know this, O Man, sole root of sin in thee Is not to know thine own divinity! 1949 H. A. R. Gibb ix. 164 This was the root from which the Bābi movement sprang in the nineteenth century. 2001 No. 26. 25/2 They could both explore further aspects of their martial arts approaches, as both Hsing Yi and Sum Yi Chuan came from the same root. 8. the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > seat of the emotions > [noun] > breast or heart > inmost heart or bottom of heart a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 151 Þe teares þe man wepeð..walleð of þe heorte rotes, swo water doð of welle. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 14892 He luued þaim in his hert rote. a1425 (a1400) in M. Day (1921) 5 (MED) Lat now loue his bowe bende And loue-arowes to my hert sende, That they peers to the rote. 1485 W. Caxton tr. (1957) 9 In hym I haue putte the rote of myn entyere herte. ?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in (1998) I. 45 I sall a ragment reveil fra rute [a1586 fra the rute] of my hert. 1568 A. Scott (1896) xv. 1 Vp, helsum hairt! thy rutis rais, and lowp. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 182 A Curse begin at very root on's heart. View more context for this quotation 1721 J. Strype I. ix. 91 Many such Words, spoken, as they might judge, as proceeding sincerely from the Bottom and Root of his Heart and Soul. 1839 110/1 The Evil Spirit seemed to have supreme power over him, and infidelity lay at the root of his heart! 1876 W. M. F. Round xxii. 271 It was better that the things lying at the root of my heart, and making me miserable, should be torn away. 1903 F. Danby (1906) x. 195 To his surprise now, at the root of his heart, pulling at it, he found England. 1992 S. D. Cox iii. 64 This is the sort of confusion and despair that lies at the heart's root. the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [noun] a1325 (c1280) (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1646 (MED) Hi þe rote [c1300 Harl. more] of þi swete lif at þin heorte grounde souȝte. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 64 Riȝt so þat þorw resoun wolde þe rote knowe Of god and of his grete myȝtes, his grace it letteth. c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer (Ellesmere) (1875) G. §4. l. 1461 Telle me the roote..Of that water [sc. magnesia], if it be youre wille. ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (Paris) (1971) 115 A glandule..and scrophule..be sayne to haue a fleumatik mater..for þoughe some be chaunged into melancolyk hardenesse, neuerþeles here rote was flewme. c1485 ( G. Hay (1993) xxvii. 101 With syk gude gouernaunce mannis nature begynnis agayn to reuert, and all tree, herbe and beste the vertu begynnis to..cum jn the Rute. 1565 T. Cooper Stirps quæstionis, the roote, and foundation of a question. 1611 Job xix. 28 Seeing the root of the matter is found in me. View more context for this quotation 1674 N. Fairfax 168 That everlastingness which the soul has in the root..is of the same kind. 1735 in (1851) IV. 45 Until he advisedly looketh into the Roots of it and tries it by the Rule of Law. 1850 F. W. Robertson (1872) 3rd Ser. v. 61 In every such case it may be taken for granted that the root of the matter has not been reached. 1890 G. Gissing I. vii. 246 It was pretty clear to her that selfishness, idleness, and vanity were at the root of Mrs. Denyer's character. 1911 36 241/1 The ultimate truth, when we get to the roots of things, is that he fell a victim to a simple equivocation. 1954 R. Davies (1991) i. 50 His complete rejection of sex..is part of the boyishness, the Edwardian Good Chapmanship, which lies at the root of his work. 1999 J. Burchill ix. 132 ‘You never iron anything for me,’ says Sulky-Boots, getting to the root of the problem. 9. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun] > ancestral stock or root c1330 (Auch.) (1933) l. 938 (MED) I ne mai do þi sone no bot But ȝif iwite þe sothe rot, Of what man hit was biȝete. a1382 (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xi. 1 Ther shal gon out a ȝerde fro the roote of Jesse [L. egredietur virga de radice Iesse]. c1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) i. 98 (MED) The eldest sone of the noble kyng, Henri the firþe..In whom is schewed of what stok he grewe; The rotys vertu þus can the frute renewe. c1450 J. Capgrave (Arun. 396) (1893) ii. 789 (MED) Yet am I come bothe of þat stok & rote..bothe on my faderis and on my moderis syde. a1500 Rev. Methodius in (1918) 33 182 (MED) He of dauyd rote wolde sprynge. 1555 J. Harpsfield in E. Bonner 6 For as much as they two were the very route, where of all men must ryse. 1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil i. 1 Thence flitted thee Latin ofspring, Thee roote of old Alban. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. i. 5 It was saide..that my selfe should be the Roote, and Father Of many Kings. View more context for this quotation 1655 W. Gouge & T. Gouge (vii.) ii. 119 Shem was the root of the Church. 1667 J. Milton ii. 383 To confound the race Of mankind in one root . View more context for this quotation 1766 W. Blackstone II. 217 This taking by representation is called a succession in stirpes, according to the roots; since all the branches inherit the same share that their root, whom they represent, would have done. 1804 W. Cruise III. 457 It was introduced with a view to discard the son; and that the father should become the propositus or root, to whom No 10 is exactly in the same relation as No 11 is to the son. 1850 W. Livingston v. 160 Leaving Bute with twelve hundred Gael, surrounded by two battles of the English, in which extremity, the immortal root of kings behaved with the utmost bravery. 1912 H. N. Williams i. 3 Louis, who was the root of the House of Conde and all its branches. 2005 D. White & U. Johansen vi. 209 The perception that most members of the society are descended from a common ancestor or ancestral root. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > descendant > [noun] c1330 (?a1300) (Auch.) p. 442 (MED) Þei he be þe deuels rote, Y schal nouȝt fle him a fot. c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Macc. i. 11 There wente out of hem a root [L. radix] of synne, Antiochus the noble. c1384 (Royal) (1850) Apoc. xxii. 16 I am the roote [L. radix] and kynde of Dauid. 1526 Rev. v. 5 A lion beinge off the tribe off Juda, the rott of David [L. radix David], hath obtayned to open the boke. a1560 Arundel MS in J. A. W. Bennett (1955) 247 Fle, ȝe aduersaris, ourcumin be ȝe lioun of ȝe tribe of Iuda, rute of Dauid [etc.]. 1611 Isa. xi. 10 In that day there shall bee a roote of Iesse [L. radix Iesse], which shall stand for an ensigne of the people. 1632 W. Lithgow x. 435 The plants of their Parishes, being the rootes of meere Irish. 1745 W. Robertson in vi. 13 So in this cold and barren World That sacred Root arose. 1890 E. Burton (new ed.) 295 She [sc. the Virgin Mary] may be thought the root of Jesse. 1922 L. A. Beck 215 Loved or unloved, he was still the heir, the root of the House tree. 10. 1340 (1866) 116 (MED) Þet is a grace þet bedeaweþ þe herte and makeþ..strengþi his roten ine þe erþe of libbende. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland (Laud 581) (1869) B. xx. 53 (MED) Antecryst cam þanne, and al þe croppe of treuthe Torned..vp so doune and ouertilte þe rote. 1439 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark (1886) I. p. lvi (MED) Gramer..is rote and grounde of all the seid other sciences. 1534 W. Turner tr. J. von Watt sig. Div By so moche the more the christen fayth waxed stronge and gathered fast rotes. 1563 N. Winȝet (S.T.S.) I. 127 Sen it hes the grund and deip ruitis in the Scriptuir. 1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton xvii. Illustr. 266 Some haue referr'd the vtmost roote of the Lancastrian title to Edmund,..eldest sonne to Hen. III. 1679 C. Ness 180 Two..is the lowest number (for one is but the root of numbers). 1720 J. Ozell et al. tr. R. A. de Vertot II. xi. 179 Cato..fell into Pompey's Hands, who to cut up the Root of the Civil War, put him to Death. 1820 P. B. Shelley ii. iii. 78 The nations echo round, Shaken to their roots. 1849 A. Alison (new ed.) II. vi. 57 This prodigious change..laid the axe to the root of the aristocracy. 1916 E. Goldman in Feb. 414 The philosophy of Atheism has its root in the earth, in this life. 1958 in P. Gammond viii. 103 From this solid root of Ellingtonian music..grew..mainstream jazz. 1992 R. Wright (1993) vii. 166 For the Maya..mastery of time was the root of political power. the world > existence and causation > causation > basis or foundation > [noun] 1340 (1866) 34 Of þe rote of auarice guoþ out manye smale roten [c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues bowes]. a1525 (a1500) Sc. Troy Bk. (Douce) l. 396 in C. Horstmann (1882) II. 240 Ine þe which dame Auaryce Festnede hyr rotes at dewyce. 1556 J. Heywood xxxix. 17 Where honestnes or vertusnes bearth rout. 1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Math. Præf. sig. *iiijv What rotes..vertue had fastened in his brest. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. iii. 86 This Auarice..growes with more pernicious roote Then Summer-seeming Lust. View more context for this quotation 1781 W. Cowper 15 With a courage of unshaken root, In honour's field advancing his firm foot. 1841 R. C. Trench xii. 210 Righteousness, both in its root of faith and its flower of charity. 1878 G. D. Boardman 63 We may not expect to see..the ripe, rich fruits of heavenhood clustered around the subterranean root of faith. 1922 Apr. 848/1 A human plant that drew its sustenance from a tough, twisted, hidden root of courage. 1951 W. Lewis i. 4 Did it rage beneath the surplice and eat away the roots of faith, in the impalpable centres of belief. 2003 R. B. Epstein 254/2 Nurturing the roots of goodness and virtue in the young children. 11. the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [phrase] ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 4250 We ere..comen of a rute & a rynde. a1450 (1969) 1135 Envye, þou arte rote and rynde..of mykyl myschefe. a1500 (?1451) in D. Gray & E. G. Stanley (1983) 138 (MED) Sum tyme we servede a lorde of ful worshypful mynde..the verrey rote and rynde Of all oure weele and honour. a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 83 Wirgin matern, Of reuth baith rute and ryne. a1560 W. Kennedy Passioun of Christ in J. A. W. Bennett (1955) 11 God hes the chosin tobe baith rute and ryn For mannis peace. 1616 R. Betts tr. King James VI & I 266 Religion was neither the root nor the rynde of those intestine troubles. 1777 R. Robinson 42 Superstition, the root and the rind of popery. ?1552 T. Churchyard (single sheet) The roote and braunche and cheefest grounde, of mischeefs all and some. 1609 Bp. W. Barlow 111 They..discouered, by Conspiracie against Root and Branch, King, Progenie, and State, all at One Blow. 1611 Mal. iv. 1 The day that cometh shall burn them up..that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. View more context for this quotation 1642 E. Dering 94 I never gave my name in to take away both root and branch. 1655 H. L'Estrange 184 The Scotish fires had..burnt up to nothing Episcopacy both root and branch. 1739 J. Bartram Let. 1 Apr. in (1992) 116 Ye cytisus is killed to ye roots & ye monpelior both root & branch. a1791 J. Wesley & C. Wesley (1868) XI. 326 Thou, Lord, on whom in faith I call, Wilt conquer, and destroy it all, Wilt take both root and branch away, And unbelief for ever slay. 1823 T. Erskine 32 The various seeds you sowed..Were never touch'd by tongue of Rook, The whole, both root and branch, we took. 1863 H. W. Beecher in J. R. Howard (1888) 532 Slavery is the framework of the South; it is the root and the branch of this conflict with the South. 1919 A. W. Caitlin & W. A. Dyer xvii. 295 If you are out to destroy, why not destroy both root and branch? 1992 J. Seddon in G. K. Kanji lvi. 344 They are ‘sponsored’ by the chief executive, [and] have his blessing to take the organisation apart by root and branch. 12. the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > fact or action of being connected or connecting > [noun] > fact or action of being linked or linking > one who or that which > a connecting link 1632 E. Reynolds 317 Men may have..good liking of the truth, and some faint and floating resolutions to pursue it: which yet having no firme roote..they vanish away like a morning dew. 1676 W. Bates v. 87 No violence can intirely choke this natural Principal, it has such deep and strong root in the Humane Spirit. 1797 W. Taylor in 23 572 Liberty may germ there, prolong its roots, and come to timber. 1854 C. Kingsley (1878) I. 432 The awful feeling of having the roots which connect one with the last generation seemingly torn up. 1967 R. F. Kaufman in Fall 51 Seeing only the holdings Inside the walls of me Feeling the roots that bind me To this mere human tree. 2000 M. Kingwell (2001) iv. 150 Henri Lonitz..speculates on the roots of connection binding exiled German intellectuals to one another in these trying times. society > authority > control > [noun] > means of control > a hold upon a1715 Bp. G. Burnet (1724) I. 120 Such an attempt..would give him a faster root with the King. 1756 J. Home 11 Let not thy jealousy attempt to shake And loosen the good root he has in Randolph. 13. In plural. society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > [noun] > social or cultural background the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > circumstance or circumstances > [noun] > environment, setting, or background > of a person 1840 Dec. 267 It is one thing to maintain and extend an ancient and substantial power which has roots in the country, but it is quite another to endeavour to bolster up a temporary authority. 1864 2 128 To thoroughly understand an individual, you should know somewhat of his ethnic roots and relationships. 1922 H. A. Larsen 5 By virtue of his blood and birth he had his roots in a community characterized by an unusually firm and solid culture. 1949 G. B. Shaw ii. 21 Plenty of money and no roots. No traditions. 2000 13 Jan. 13/2 Tony's gang make a Godfather II-style visit to the old country as they search for their roots in Napoli. the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > approval [interjection] 1974 29 Dec. (Mag.) 7/3 A jus' manand mon a do-it like-all de dread lock dem. Roots mon. 1975 21 Feb. 22 Hail roots! What de I think bout socialism! 1978 29 Jan. 43/2 She is, she says, ‘roots’, and roots is ‘just our culture; the social standings that affect us as Jamaicans living in Jamaica’. 1986 16 Oct. 41 For the DJ, crossing over is more than simply a move from roots to respectability or even from black to white audiences. 2004 (Nexis) 30 Jan. 22 [Reggae music is] the universal language. It carries the message of roots, culture and reality. society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > Jamaican 1979 24 Feb. 18/3 If I could play roots every day it would be lovely. 1989 (Nexis) 11 Feb. f1 Roots—an effective term..to blanket traditional, often acoustic music—celtic, klezmer, delta blues, Louisiana zydeco and so on. 1997 G. Santero (title) Stir it up: musical mixes from roots to jazz. 2000 L. Bradley (2001) x. 212 Reggae itself had shifted through roots, ragga, dancehall and beyond. 2006 (Nexis) 1 June 35 Blue King Brown produces a distinctly original sound that fuses heavy percussion with soul, Afro beat, roots, rock and reggae. III. Technical uses. the world > the universe > astrology > [noun] > calculation > basis of c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 216 Of viage is ther noon eleccioun..Nat whan a roote is of a burthe yknowe. a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate (Arun.) (1911) 370 (MED) The Root ytake at the ascendent, Trewly sought out be mynut and degre The silf houre of his natyvyte. a1500 (?1397) G. Chaucer (Digby 72) (1872) ii. Suppl. §44. 54 Consider thy rote furst, the wyche is made the begynning of the tabelis. 1558 F. Withers tr. J. ab Indagine sig. N.viiiv They whiche haue Venus in the rote of their natiuiti. 1603 C. Heydon 363 These..haue euer a principall aime, vnto the position of heauen, at the natiuite, as the Radix, or roote of their operations. 1647 W. Lilly clvii. 654 I oft am enforced to name the Root of the Nativity, it were more proper to say the Radix, for our English doth not well expresse the sense of the words. a1761 W. Law (1764) I. xxvi. 256 For that astral Birth or Geniture stans with the Root in the holy Heaven. 1953 1 224 Such a planetary radix or root is used in the text of the Equatorie burt not in the Astrolabe. 15. Mathematics. the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > root ?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele (1922) 7 (MED) Here telles þat þer ben 7 spices or partes of þis craft..The 7 is called extraccion of þe Rote. c1450 Art Nombryng in R. Steele (1922) 46 (MED) Me shalle se what is a nombre quadrat and what is the rote of a nombre quadrat, and what it is to draw out the rote of a nombre. 1557 R. Record sig. Civ Thei onely haue rootes, whiche bee made by many multiplications of some one number by it self. 1578 W. Bourne i. vi. f. 12 Then must I bee perfect in the seconde parte of Arithmetyke, (that is to say) the extraction of rootes. 1660 tr. I. Barrow sig. (∴)4v The Side or Root of a Square, or Cube, &c. 1706 W. Jones 47 The Root or First Power being taken as a Side, the Second Power will be a Square. 1714 (Royal Soc.) 29 54 For extracting the fifth Root, you will find more than one very compendious Rule. 1798 C. Hutton I. 80 Roots are sometimes denoted by writing the character √ before the power, with the index of the root against it. 1876 ii. 13 (heading) Theorems on the nth roots of unity. 1962 25 196 The critical frequency is proportional to the fourth root of the intensity of ionizing radiation. 1993 R. J. Pond (ed. 2) iv. 82 It is useful for the technician to understand that a root is a fractional power. 2001 I. Stewart v. 73 ‘The one-and-a-quarterth power?’ ‘Um... that's the fourth root of the fifth power, right?’ the world > relative properties > number > algebra > [noun] > expression > equation > value of unknown quantity 1668 J. Glanvill iv. 33 Vieta, who by inventing the Method of Extracting Roots in the most numerous Aequations, and by converting the Signs used by the Ancients into Letters, brought Algebra to a very great perfection. 1671 J. Gregory Let. 15 Feb. in I. Newton (1959) I. 61 An equation whose rootes ar in arithmetical progressione. 1728 E. Chambers (at cited word) If the Value of x be Negative, e. gr. x = −5. The Root is said to be false. 1798 C. Hutton I. 249 To find the root of the cubic equation x3 + x2 + x = 100, or the value of x in it. 1843 XXV. 120 The roots of equations of the fifth and higher degrees are..transcendental. 1908 G. H. Hardy iii. 78 The two complex numbers ± i satisfy this equation. We express this by saying that the equation has the two complex roots ± i. 2004 M. Potter viii. 138 A real number is said to be algebraic if it is a root of a polynomial equation with rational coefficients. the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > point on 1857 A. Cayley in 13 172 The inspection of these figures will show at once what is meant by the term in question, and by the terms root, branches,..and knots (which may be either the root itself, or proper knots, or the extremities of the free branches). 1881 4 266 In a tree of N knots, selecting any knot at pleasure as a root, the tree may be regarded as springing from this root, and it is then called a root-tree. 1973 C. W. Gear vii. 282 A tree is a set of nodes connected by branches such that there is one and only one way of going from one node to another via branch connections, and which has a distinguished node called the root node. 2006 12 300 Essentially all [iteration games] consist of ‘bad’ playing iteration trees and then ‘good’ picking a branch leading to a well-founded model, which ‘bad’ then uses as the root of a new tree to continue the game. 16. Linguistics. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > morpheme > [noun] > root 1530 J. Palsgrave Introd. 31 His thre chefe rotes, that is to say, his theme, his preterit participle, and his present infynityve. 1599 xii. 39 Recourse must be had to the Hebrew, euen to a false roote. 1615 W. Bedwell Index Assuratarum in tr. sig. O3 The theame or roote, as they call it, from whence it is deriued, is..Kara', to reade. 1662 T. Stanley i. 16 Perhaps, from the Hebrew root Ashaph, comes the Greek σοϕὀς. 1740 Ld. Chesterfield (1932) (modernized text) lI. 429 The shortest and best way of learning a language is to know the roots of it; that is, those original, primitive words, of which many other words are made. 1761 L. Sterne IV. xxix. 191 It is a fault only in the declension, and the roots of the words continue untouch'd. 1837 G. Phillips 20 The simplest forms of nouns are those which consist only of the letters composing the root. 1883 W. R. Morfill ii. 39 A Slavonic root, meaning dwelling. 1908 T. G. Tucker ix. 181 Usually the root is built into a stem or base by some element or elements out of a numerous list. 1957 E. Fromm ii. 28 Respect..denotes, in accordance with the root of the word (respicere = to look at), the ability to see a person as he is. 1974 P. H. Matthews iii. 40 Many linguists..would prefer to reserve the term ‘root’ for a form which is not only inflectionally unanalysable, but ‘derivationally’ and compositionally unanalysable also. 2004 H. van der Voort iii. 91 The Kwaza word may consist of roots, derivational morphemes and inflexional morphemes, in that order. 1663 S. Butler i. i. 5 Hebrew Roots, although th' are found To flourish most in barren ground, He had such plenty. 1811 W. Combe Schoolmaster's Tour in Mar. 185 What tho', by toil and pain, I know Where ev'ry Hebrew root doth grow. 1901 23 Nov. 754/2 The young man who cannot see that digging potatoes is honorable..is not likely to make a very astounding use of his Greek and Latin roots after he has dug them. society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > chord > [noun] > root of chord 1806 T. Busby (ed. 2) Root, a term applied by theorists to the fundamental note of any chord. 1818 T. Busby 314 The Triad may have its mediant either two whole tones, or a tone and a semitone, above its Root. 1867 G. A. Macfarren ii. 48 The inversion of a chord is the placing one of its other notes, instead of the root, in the bass. 1909 J. Klauser i. 25 In one-voice music, not only is each tone in a melody a harmonic, that is, a root or third or fifth or seventh or ninth, but every moment in a melody is ruled by a particular harmony. 1957 G. Cooper iii. 47 The fourth tone most likely to be added to a triad is the octave above the root (CEGC). 1999 S. Valdez 36 The bassist plays the root of the chord on the first beat of the measure and the fifth of the chord on the third beat of a measure. 18. Computing. 1965 R. C. Daley & P. G. Neumann in (Assoc. Computing Machinery) 215/1 With one exception, each file..finds itself directly pointed to by exactly one branch in exactly one directory. The exception is the root directory, or root, at the root of the tree. 1971 K. Thompson & D. M. Ritchie Unix Programmer's Man. 3 Nov. §12.28 in (O.E.D. Archive) Directory dir (which must exist already) becomes the name of the root of the newly mounted filesystem. 1990 Nov.–Dec. 17/3 I've sorted the files in the root directory of drive C. 2005 D. Brickner iii. 66 The single forward slash means that you're at the root of your Linux system. 1974 /etc/passwd file in (Electronic text) Root. 1976 M. Stonebraker & P. Rubinstein in (Assoc. Computing Machinery) 84/1 The UNIX operating system supports a user (often called the ‘root’) who has the power to authorize and deauthorize users... Trust is to be placed in the ‘root’ user. 1981 R. Gauthier ix. 192 There are two ways to become the superuser. One is to login as user named ‘root’ and give the right password. 1999 M. Cheek ii. 49 After the system reboots, login as root using the previously specified root password. 2002 D. Verton v. 117 With a click of the mouse, his programs dropped him in on dozens of Windows and Unix systems with root access privileges. Phrases P1. to take root. See also to take (also have) strong root at strong adj. 15e.the world > plants > part of plant > root > plant defined by roots > have root [verb (intransitive)] > take root a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 8222 (MED) Dauid sagh..þat þai wandes tane hade rote. a1475 (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 10240 (MED) Als smertly as Noee Was goon out..Þe trees tooke rootes anoone..And þere shal stonde euermore. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 265 For a tree may not take þer roote [L. radicem profundere] for saltenes of the erthe. 1611 Psalms lxxx. 9 Thou..didst cause it to take deepe root, and it filled the land. View more context for this quotation 1738 J. Wesley (new ed.) lxxx. xi Water'd with Blood, the Vine took Root. 1774 O. Goldsmith I. xi. 131 The seeds..take root, and..the whole spot is cloathed in time with a beautiful verdure. 1817 J. Cocke Diary 26 July in E. Betts (1999) App. 3. 637 After some time it was found that part of the basket had taken root..and became the first Weeping Willow tree ever known in America. 1960 H. S. Zim 52 Strangler fig grows on other trees, strangling them while it takes root. 2006 Feb. 17/1 Marram grass..anchors the sand by its extensive root system and allows other species such as wild rose, bayberry, and beech peas to take root. the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > originate, derive, or arise [verb (intransitive)] a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 43 (MED) Vr dedis fro vr hert tas rote. the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > initiate [verb (intransitive)] > be or become established a1450 (Vesp.) (1902) 2286 (MED) A Priores hertly sal hast Al vice & syns away to waist..Or tyme þat þai haue takin rute. 1535 2 Kings xix. 30 And the doughter Iuda..shall from hence forth take rote [L. mittet radicem] beneth, and beare frute aboue. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. xcijv No suche sectes can take roote or remayne emonges them. 1605 W. Camden i. 9 This warlike..Nation, after it had as it were taken roote heere. 1662 Dumfries Council Minutes 10 Nov. in 2 The word of God..had takin little rwit in thair harts. 1713 J. Barker 5 But Passion takes Root in our Hearts, and very often out-grows and smothers our rational Faculties. 1785 W. Cowper ii. 568 Prejudice in men of stronger minds Takes deeper root, confirm'd by what they see. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage IV. x. xi. 181 As soon as I had taken root in my new soil. 1862 C. Wordsworth Gen. Epist. 170 The word Candlestick has taken root in the English language as an emblem of a Church. 1905 4 July 4/1 After the massacre at Kischineff, after the bloodshed at Homel, the idea of self-defence took root. 1953 A. Hosain 25 The repeated suggestion took root in his mind and he brooded over the need to find himself a wife. 1993 11 Jan. 6/2 Cubans have taken root in Miami and done very well. P2. to strike root (also roots). (Cf. to take root at Phrases 1.) the world > plants > part of plant > root > plant defined by roots > have root [verb (intransitive)] > take root 1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons 73 The cuttings..will strike root the first year. 1683 S. Gilbert Gardeners Almanack sig. M9, in Lay July-flowers, which will strike root in six weeks, and be ready for transplanting into a light loamy Earth. 1702 in J. Houghton (1727) III. No. 496. 201 They will have contracted a..knur about that part; which being set, does..never fail of growing and striking root. 1776 J. Lee (ed. 3) 378 Radicans, rooting, striking Root laterally and fixing to other Bodies. 1823 E. Moor 283 It is notched..at the point of tact with the earth which is loosened to encourage the pleach to strike root. 1865 24 130 The eyes will strike roots, and being cut asunder, form distinct vines. 1921 W. F. Ganong v. 259 In general plants of succulent texture, with soft fibro-vascular system and plenty of stored food, strike root most easily. 1964 54 59 In many cases these buds strike root and grow into young plants while still attached to the parent leaf. 2008 (Nexis) 11 Jan. d3 Even a small willow twig if introduced to soil will strike roots within weeks in the spring. 1700 Ep. Ded. The Design may receive Protection from some Powerful Hand, by which..it may have leave to strike Root and grow to strength enough to be able to stand alone. 1711 J. Addison No. 261. ¶5 The Passion should strike Root, and gather Strength before Marriage be grafted on it. 1822 T. De Quincey 81 The calamities of my noviciate in London had struck root. 1899 S. R. Gardiner 36 The idea struck root. 1913 W. F. Griewe 406 The movement spread to the northern provinces..but it did not strike roots in the south. 1962 1 15/1 From the early 1700s to the present day..it was the musical that struck root as an indigenous form. 2003 (Nexis) 29 Aug. The Arunachal Pradesh political climate appears favourable for the BJP to strike root. the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > [adjective] > wild or not cultivated > not grafted 1721 R. Bradley tr. G. A. Agricola i. §3 iv. 194 I hardly grafted any of 'em on their own roots. 1846 T. Rivers (ed. 4) 150 It..seems to flourish on the Manettii stock better than on its own roots. 1914 H. H. Thomas 696/1 Plants may grow rampantly on their own roots to the material disadvantage of any useful products. 1944 M. G. Kains & L. M. McQuesten (rev. ed.) xiv. 334 Why do not nurserymen sell us plants on their own roots? The answer is that in no other way [than grafting] can fruit trees true to name be propagated so rapidly. 1986 J. A. Samson (ed. 2) iii. 38 Grafting is especially useful when the rootstock is immune to a disease that attacks the clone on its own roots, e.g. footrot in citrus. P4. by the roots (also root). c1350 (Harl. 874) (1961) 118 (MED) Þai þat ȝiuen stedfastlich her hertes & ben roted in erþelich þinges shullen ben pulled vp by þe rotes & cast in to þe fyre to brenne. a1400 tr. R. Rolle Oleum Effusum (Harl.) in C. Horstmann (1895) I. 188 (MED) Þis name Ihesu..draghes vpe be þo rotes vices. a1460 (Pembr. Cambr. 243) 1213 (MED) If that thei talk or mote Of werre, and reyse roore, vp by the roote Hit shal be pulde with myghti exercise Of werreourys. 1517 R. Fox tr. St. Benedict xxxiii. sig. Ei Principally and before all other vices, this vice of proprietie must be cut out of the monastery by the roote. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. xciijv Wherby these newe spronge vp sectes maye be plucked vp by the rotes. 1640–1 in J. Rushworth (1721) I. iii. 187 I wonder not at all..that they would have them [sc. Bishops] up by the Roots. 1781 W. Cowper 574 Since the dear hour that..cut up all my follies by the root. 1804 W. Cruise III. 14 This argument was quite cut up by the roots by the determination of the House of Lords. 1943 M. Millar xiii. 176 I should just leave and let your hoodlums tear up the office by the roots. 1996 R. Gosden 6 Everyone is comfortable with the efforts to prune back the effects of the aging process, but fewer people applaud attempts to pull it up by the roots. c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xiii. 29 Nay, lest..ȝe gedrynge dernels, or coclis, draw vp by the roote [L. eradicetis] togidre with hem and the whete. ?a1425 (Egerton) (1889) 79 (MED) If a man take þam with a lytill of þe roche þat þai growe on, so þat þai be taken vp by þe rutes [Fr. racyne]..þai growe ilke a ȝere visibilly. 1526 W. Bonde ii. sig. Hi He..plucketh vp the breers, wedes, & grasse by the rotes. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. iv. 69 Yonder stands the thornie Wood, Which..Must by the Roots be hew'ne vp yet ere Night. View more context for this quotation 1762 A. Dickson i. xiii. 105 The weeds themselves must be pulled up by the root. 1833 H. Martineau ii. 26 They could pull up a tall tree by the roots. 1905 21 Jan. 7/6 When nearly ripe the flax is plucked up by the roots..and ‘rippled’ or combed of its roots and seeds. 2002 A. Pearson (2003) xxxii. 281 It felt like the baby was an oak being pulled up by the roots from claggy, November earth. the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > completely [phrase] a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) i. l. 3261 (MED) Every man and bridd and beste, And flour and gras and rote and rinde..Schal sterve, and Erthe it schal become.] ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 333 Toward þe North he schoke, To chace kyng Robyn,..destroie him rote & rynde. c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Fabula Duorum Mercatorum (Harl.) 271 in (1934) ii. 495 (MED) The[i] were ful besy to fynd oute, roote and rynde, Of what humour was causyd his dissese. c1500 (?a1475) (1896) 66 (MED) He breketh hem [sc. trees] asondre or rendeth hem roote & rynde Out of the erthe. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. (?1560) l. sig. Kiiiv The monster ranne to a tree..and..tare it vp rote and rinde. 1574 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin (new ed.) lxxvii. 397/1 God will plucke them [sc. the wicked] vp roote and rinde. 1640 J. Howell 60 Druina's Soveraigne Monarch, with his Royall Consort, and Princely Imps, Root and Rinde, Stemme and Stock, Bud and Blossome, had all beene blasted. 1827 A. J. Jardine 76 To cut up heresy root and rind was the object of the Church. 1981 July 133/1 My mother was locked root and rind to the holder and wielder of that power. c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 2 Whan that Aueryll wt his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote. a1566 R. Edwards (1571) sig. Hij My hart, this rare frindship hath pearst to the roote. 1601 B. Jonson iv. vi. sig. K That so she might more strictly, and to roote, Effect the Reformation she intends. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. i. 28 What's his name, and Birth?.. I cannot delue him to the roote. a1785 R. Glover (1787) III. xxiv. 101 Blasted to the root Is all my joy. 1862 J. Ruskin i. 33 He [sc. the merchant] has to understand to their very root the qualities of the thing he deals in. 1904 W. B. Yeats 11 May (1994) III. 593 Having found but one thing in Ireland that has stirred me to the roots—a conception of the heroic life come down from the dawn of the world. 2003 K. Hosseini (2004) xii. 126 The man is a Pashtun to the root. 1607 G. Chapman v. 63 As illiterate men say Latine praiers By roote of heart, and daily iteration. 1684 J. Bunyan 11 That thou read therein to thy self and to thy Children, until you have got it by root-of-Heart . View more context for this quotation 1877 R. L. Stevenson Virginibus Puerisque in July 82 I lie here, by this water, to learn by root-of-heart a lesson. 1896 J. MacNeil xii. 77 Let us learn it by root of heart, that every Pentecost since the first has, in like manner, been preceded by an Ascension. 1909 J. H. McCarthy viii. 118 She knew all the verses of Guido Guinicelli by root of heart. the world > existence and causation > causation > basis or foundation > [adverb] 1638 G. Sandys Paraphr. Iob i. 21 in How perfect then is man? from head to foot Defil'd with filth, and rotten at the root. 1654 I. Penington x. 95 That which is but spirit in a type, or by vertue of a dispensation, but is still flesh at root in its own in most nature. 1660 102 The grand work, at heart, at root, was the subversion of the present Government. 1855 C. Kingsley I. ii. 45 He was, at root, a godly and kind-hearted pedant enough. 1869 E. S. P. Ward 148 It [sc. spiritualism] is evil,—evil at the root; and..had better be let alone. 1876 V. 33/2 Is not true love itself holy? for love is the fountain of all man's bliss, and all love, like goodness and truth, is at root one. 1909 J. Moyes in 37 Both these twin Reformational principles are at root logically one. 1963 D. M. Matheson tr. F. Schuon i. 20 Moslem antihistoricism..culminates in this rejection which is at root quite external and for some even doubtful as to its intention. 2005 Fall 111/2 What drives him is, surely, not so different at root from what drives any number of academically trained, thoroughly plugged-in practitioners. society > inhabiting and dwelling > [verb (intransitive)] > establish residence 1882 Jan. 57/1 He had put down roots in London. 1928 140 338/2 They have put down roots in Africa; many are three generations removed from India. 1969 A. G. Thomas in L. Durrell 117 On three occasions, when he has bought a house and put down roots, the whole collection has been posted out to him. 2002 16 Dec. r10/5 If we have relocated to a new community, we become promiscuous joiners in order to put down roots and make new friends. Compounds C1. General attributive, instrumental, objective, etc. a. (In sense 1.) (a) 1636 12 Mar. (Bundle 110, f. 2) Re[ceived] for the groundage of a Root boate at barrow hills, 4d. the mind > possession > supply > storage > [noun] > place where anything is or may be stored > other spec. 1767 5 Mar. 3/3 (advt.) There is..a root cellar 22 feet by 11 stoned up all around, also a summer house. 1810 W. Dunlap i. i I found myself safely deposited in the bottom of an empty turnip tub at the bottom of his lordship's root cellar. 1872 312 A convenient grain-box and root-cellar are great aids. 1965 E. L. Myles ii. ii. 184 We collected the potatoes and put them in the root cellar. 2005 J. MacGregor iii. 64 It is..cool and dark and damp as a root cellar. 1969 E. H. Pinto 95 The introduction and gradual increase throughout the 18th century, in the growing of root crops for animal winter feed, led to the importance of the well worn root cutting board. 1830 Further Rep. Commissioners Charities 57 in XII. 1 John Turner..sold..one other piece, called the Further Root Field, containing two acres and a half. 1842 3 201 Because the beets keep longer in spring than any turnip, I think they should be allowed a share of the root-fields on every farm. 1932 E. Blunden 9 The crucifix surmounting the steps of granite in the middle of the rootfields. 1977 F. Parrish ii. 18 Dan heard the bloodhounds..race across the root field towards the farm. 1562 W. Turner f. 56v Ye Duche root pedlers of Antwerp. 1859 Jan. 17 The aconite had been obtained from a ‘root peddler’, for some bitter root which Boorman was accustomed to put in his liquor. 1993 T. C. Boyle ii. i. 170 On the heels of the health prospectors came the confidence men,..root peddlers and all the rest. 1699 J. Evelyn App. sig. P5v So have you a Composition for any Root-Pudding. 1994 A. Walter in J. Morrison et al. xiii. 199 The fruit..of Canarium or Barringtonia is often grilled or mixed to add nutritional value to root puddings. 1855 Sept. 241/2 Garrett's newly-invented root pulper (highly commended) is a very efficient machine. 1907 T. Shaw xvi. 359 Pulping roots means putting them through a machine, known as a root pulper. It is run by hand or other power as desired. 2004 S. Campbell ii. 102 We had a root pulper to smash them up, but some of the cows liked them whole and they'd just scoop those mangels out. 1772 tr. Lucian i. vi. 8 You, a wretched Root-Scraper, went your Mountebank Circuit. 1877 48 1 grindstone... 1 corn-sheller... 1 root-scraper. 2001 N. J. Turner Pref. 6 Many [tools] including awls, knives, root scrapers and bark peelers of stone, bone or antler, were likely used to process plant materials. 1802 A. F. M. Willich III. 503/2 Root-Steamer, an useful machine..for steaming potatoes, carrots, and other roots, with the view of feeding cattle. 1859 E. G. Storke 41 (table) 1 Root-steamer, or boiler..$20.00. 1847 G. W. Johnson & J. Barnes I. 100 (caption) Cellar or root store. 1908 16 Jan. 70/2 Any roots..left in the ground should now be lifted and placed in the root store in sand or ashes. 2005 (Nexis) Nov. Mayfield, her heroine..owns a root store filled with age-old remedies. 1856 H. S. Randall Index 314/1 Root troughs, cut of. 1886 C. Scott 66 Corn boxes do not need to be so large as the root troughs. 1959 R. Trow-Smith (2006) x. 311 In yard feeding, stock were provided with a root trough, cake manger under cover, and a hay crib in a semi-covered yard. (b) 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence II. xvi. 5 The males of another root-devouring beetle. 1909 G. Abbey 8 [The mole's food] consists of worms, insect larvæ, notably wireworm, cockchafer grubs, and other root-devouring pests. 2008 R. Watkins & C. Deliso 64 Devastating outbreaks of phylloxera (caused by a root-devouring aphid). 1840 D. L. Child x. 38 The root digging plough has no mold board, but a triangular bit of wood, resembling the point of the chip. 1877 J. E. Carpenter tr. C. P. Tiele 17 The religion of the root-digging Australians. 1999 18 Mar. 26/1 It's a bet he wasn't thinking about the root-digging Indians of the Utah desert. 1636 W. Davenant i. i. sig. Bv Why destroy some poore Root-eating Souldier? 1872 C. Darwin (ed. 6) xiv. 382 How curious it is..that the hind feet of..the ground-dwelling, insect or root-eating, bandicoots..should be constructed to the same extraordinary type. 1920 Mar. 48/3 Wombats are clumsy, burrowing, root-eating Australian animals. 1996 R. A. Robinson iii. xxv. 336 [Soil-borne parasites] include the various root-eating insects, nematode worms, and both fungi and bacteria. 1894 No. 4. 5/2 This very brittleness is a protection to the plant against root-hunting and root-loving animals. 1947 C. S. Lewis in 1 Oct. 324/1 Fruit-loving, root-loving gods. 2003 D. R. Mellor 209 Grubs and other root-loving pests will be clearly visible in the soil. 1854 133/2 Two sizes of a patent turnip and general root pulping machine, invented by the exhibiter, and manufactured by Charles Buttel, of Thetford. 1862 23 2 Busy autumn and winter work of threshing, chaff-cutting, root-pulping, cake-crushing, grinding, &c. 1910 Mar. 207/2 The electricity furnished by this means serves to light the house.., and drives a chaff-cutter, a circular saw, and a root-pulping machine. 2007 C. Wills i. 17 Electricity was to be the force behind farm mechanisation (powering grain-crushing, root-pulping, chaff-cutting, milking, milk-churning). b. (In sense 2.) (a) attributive. Denoting some part, appendage, or other feature of a root. 1746 T. Short 88 A Decoction of the Root Bark brings Fractures quickly to a firm Callus. 1873 I. Remsen tr. R. Fittig v. 418 Quercitin..occurs ready formed in..the root-bark and trunk-bark of the apple-tree. 1957 R. H. Thomson v. 266 A colouring matter isolated from the root bark of the common North American bittersweet Celastrus scandens Linn. 2005 6 Feb. (Review Suppl.) 51/1 A herb derived for the root-bark of a shrub found in the rainforests of west Africa may be able to cure drug addiction. 1673 N. Grew iii. 126 From the same expansion and pliability of the Air-vessels, the Root oftentimes putteth forth Root-buds. 1764 P. Miller tr. H. L. Duhamel du Monceau I. ii. ii. 16 The branches are also provided with root-buds, since slips and layers produce them. 1805 R. W. Dickson II. 603 They are enabled to propagate their subterraneous wires or root-buds. 1904 2 Dec. 744/1 Roots develop around the basal end of the piece from preformed root-buds. 2004 R. C. Moran v. 52 Although root buds are most commonly found on epiphytes, a few terrestrial species produce them. 1698 L. Milbourne 168 The Ground must be..carefully stirr'd, to mellow the soil, and to give the Root-Fibres liberty. 1789 J. Abercrombie 211 All the varieties of potatoes in their growth produce numerous spreading root fibres, to which are attached many knobbed tubers. 1805 R. W. Dickson II. 779 It is quite necessary that the sets have formed root-fibres at the bottoms before they are removed. 1882 J. Scott & J. C. Morton iii. 18 If we exclude living roots and root fibres, there is, even in the oldest pasture-land, no great quantity of organic matter. 1995 D. Donoghue x. 116 We have seen how definite was the leading motive of that culture; how, like some central root-fibre, it maintained the well-rounded unity of his life through a thousand distractions. 2008 G. E. Wickens vii. 123 In Senegal the children of the Tenda make hoops from baobab root fibres to use as targets. 1842 33 173 The vesicular extremity, like the spongiole of the root fibril, is the primitive germinal spot of the villus. 1874 M. C. Cooke 9 A stray fragment of a root-fibril. 1977 19 243 The amounts [of lead] absorbed by the root fibrils of plants are usually small with comparatively little translocation upwards. 1847 A. Tulk tr. L. Oken §1391. 263 Through the process of putrefaction many kinds of antagonisms and attractions, by which the absorption takes place through the root-filaments, are aroused. 1913 A. F. Blakeslee & C. D. Jarvis i. 34 Absorption of water and minerals in solution is the great service of roots, but it is only their smallest branchlets—the root fibrils—that are capable of taking in water. 1988 S. Crawford 82 Our collapsed ditch banks may be how that unfinished tale ends—in a gaping hole strung by root filaments and stood over by a man with a shovel in the bright morning light. 1863 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 154 Our living trees turn pale and perish standing; root fungi are their enemy. 1882 25 Feb. 133/1 Root fungus frequently attacks the Rose. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) I. iii. 52 One of the most important forms of symbiosis is that between various plants and root-fungi (mycorrhiza). 2000 July–Aug. 7/4 Biologists..[are] seeking to understand how a variety of oaks and their root fungi interact to maintain the ‘biocomplexity’ of the savanna ecosystem. 1847 Nov. 476/2 No root-growth can in general take place while hard frosts and the swamping of melted snows are the concomitants. 1959 176 Peat..is grand for helping the rooting of seedlings and to foster root growth generally. 2001 June 87/1 To aid root growth, small gravel or pea grit should be added to the compost. 1844 1 910 Read, ‘Observations on Cytineæ, and on the genus Thottea of Rottböll’, in continuation of Mr. Griffith's memoirs on Root-parasites. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 1211 Belonging to the same family, the Scrophulariaceae, are a number of other root parasites... The eyebrights, the cow-wheats, the red and yellow rattles. 2003 51 759/1 Broomrapes (Orobanche spp.) are obligate, chlorophyll-lacking root parasites that..cause severe damage to vegetables and field crops worldwide. 1800 E. Darwin ix. iii. 163 The caudex of the leaf..will generate many new buds, which will thus become suckers, or root scions, and rival their parent. 1889 4 Apr. 273/2 These root scions resemble the trunk of the tree which produces them. 1978 4 123/1 Transmission of the disease to recipient trees from root scions with sprouted shoots was no more frequent than transmission from non-sprouted scions. 2003 15 2789/1 Root scions (to be grafted) were inserted into both ends of a polyethylene capillary tube. 1840 J. Lindley ii. xv. 285 Neither has it been pretended that the root-secretions of every plant are deleterious at all. 1909 47 357 He found that the root secretion was capable of oxidizing various organic substances. 1996 228 It is not as an ornamental that it is sought, but for its reputation as a destroyer of weeds by means of its apparently herbicidal root secretions. 1778 J. Abercrombie at Cochlearia The bottom of the root generally resolves itself into a thick, knotty, durable stool, at a certain depth in the ground, and from which arise several erect root-shoots. 1880 C. R. Markham 72 The root-shoots had scarcely grown to a sufficient size to yield anything but quill bark. 1964 E. Salisbury (ed. 2) vi. 189 Corn Sowthistle owes its importance as a weed to its spread by root-shoots. 2005 4 288 Cleistes bifaria combines a naturally occurring outcrossing mode of reproduction..with vegetative propagation via root shoots. 1740 W. Ellis i. 8 The Root-Spire..will be so many Tails to encrease the Measure. ?1830 W. Brande vi. 52 The root-spire also will tend to increase the bulk. 1719 J. Chamberlayne tr. B. Nieuwentyt II. xxiii. iv. 688 d c is the white Root-Sprig fasten'd to both the sides. 1807 J. Grahame 49 When the wren..from the root-sprig trills her ditty clear. 1939 H. H. Bennett xxi. 492 Spot sodding is accomplished by planting root sprigs in handmade holes. 1825 W. Billington 310 Perhaps putting a little fresh soil in the holes nearest the old root stumps, might be the cheapest method. 1907 1 36 A number of root stumps were noticed which evidently formed portions of roots which had attempted to descend, but had met with large stones. 1994 104 310/2 The Scholander pressure chamber is commonly used to force xylem sap from leaves, from segments of stem, or from root stumps. 1781 S. Fullmer 287 If those of the side-slips and cuttings in particular, not being furnished with roots, as in the root-suckers, are plunged in a bark-bed, it will greatly forward their rooting. 1889 W. Schlich I. 10 The trees consist of stool shoots or root suckers which are cut over periodically. 1916 E. V. Wilcox xii 180 They [sc. bowstring hemps] require little care or cultivation, spread readily by root suckers and grow wild over large areas. 2006 B. E. Juniper & D. J. Mabberley ii. 65 If the mother tree, with its shading crown, remains healthy and effective, the growth of root suckers may be inhibited. 1846 Apr. 300/2 Each plant should have at least 3 square feet to grow in, as they develop a much larger root-system than those which are grown from tubers. 1946 A. Nelson iii. 21 The tap root and its branches constitute the root system of the plant. 2006 Apr. 13/1 Sweet peas have deep roots and dislike disturbance, so take care when separating the root systems. 1809 July 163 These vessels are the life therefore, from which all flower branches grow, and all root threads proceed. 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien i. vii. 141 His grey thirsty spirit drew power out of the earth and spread like fine root-threads in the ground. 2007 (Nexis) 13 Jan. (Weekend) b4 If you scrape off all the mulch with a mattock or shovel, cutting away the tree mass at the surface, the finer web of root threads will soon rot down inside the mulch. 1834 J. Rennie 6 Every removal, however, must tend to obstruct or injure the root tips. 1908 Feb. 222/2 The root-tip quite fastidiously selects its path amongst the interstices of the soil, seeking out moist places. 2005 B. Capon ii. 37 When root cap cells are ruptured by sharp soil particles, their protoplasm forms a slimy coat lubricating the root tip as it works its way through the soil. 1800 E. Darwin xvii. i. 433 The curling of the leaves of potatoes..is supposed to be owing to their continued propagation by subterraneous buds or root-wires, instead of by seed. 1890 S. M. Babcock et al. in 139 Repeated watering..would only exaggerate the difficulty until the soil of the root zone was too far dried to be further affected. 1953 J. Ramsbottom xviii. 206 The microflora is greater in the region of actively growing roots than in the soil generally... This root-zone of increased population is known as a rhizosphere. 2005 J. Diamond (2006) xiii. 401 If the salt below the root zone just stayed there, it wouldn't be a problem. 1755 IV. 351 (heading) On a Root-House. 1789 36 This gloomy path formerly led to a root house, concealed in a reclusive nook. 1853 Nov. 459/2 Sometimes a root-fence stretched up its bleaching antlers. 1864 J. C. Atkinson 7 On the garden side, a root-bench was constructed against the bole of the tree. 1895 26 389/2 The grass needs time to weave the deep, tough, root carpet so essential for sure footing. 1930 E. Blunden 318 Thus the sacred well Is passed, and now the far root-canopy Issues its people, swift and slippery. 1997 85 356/2 The thick root carpet of previous grassland species. (c) Instrumental, objective, and similative. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxiv. 288 Tall root-torn beeches. 1872 Ld. Tennyson 29 Wan-sallow as the plant that feels itself Root-bitten by white lichen. 1897 M. Kingsley 554 A narrow, slippery, muddy, root-beset bush-path. 1931 A. Huxley 51 Never a tortured flower Shudders, root-weary, on the verge of flight. 1960 S. Plath 63 Root-pale her meagre frame. 1993 V. Raymond 86 From root-torn plants, I press a juice without vintage, as harsh as sand. 1996 L. Harris in I. Zahava 78 Freshwater rivers..rise up against root-weary banks and trees, ebb and flow. (ii) a1763 W. Shenstone Oeconomy i, in (1764) I. 291 Suffice the root-built cell, the simple fleece,..the crystal stream. 1824 6 Nov. 387/2 One of these [breaches in the fence] led through a low root-built arch: this is now dismantled and roofless. 1907 A. C. Parker in No. 117. 505 At 22″ below the surface of the ground was found a crumbling root-eaten skeleton of an adult. 1966 T. Hughes 9 Much buried root-eaten blood Is exhaled in part as night-fog. 1863 (U.S. House of Representatives) 560 On the contrary, when the soil is warmer than the air, the root-forming process will be active. 1946 19 Oct. 555/1 The root-forming capacity of penicillins G and X almost certainly resided in these substances themselves. 2001 S. E. Clements in (Brooklyn Bot. Garden) 11 It's important to plant the bulb with this broader, root-forming end facing down. 1854 F. T. Palgrave 52 The dark root-fringed depth of mountain dens. 1944 E. Blunden 5 Upon the root-fringed dais. 2007 O. Shears (new ed.) ix. 91 Pointing towards a root-fringed hollow with his cane. 1784 D. Robertson 27 Esca, with dear delight no more I stray Along thy shrub and root-inwoven side. 1848 C. F. Hoffman 88 Old trees and root-inwoven ground With rocks and ice together bound, Would plunging crash their headlong way. 1903 J. Hawthorne iii. 53 It was a deeply trodden path, in the hard, root-inwoven soil. c. attributive and objective in sense 4, esp. with reference to the roots of teeth or nerves. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. VI. 894 As a rule the root-affection is most severe. 1915 10 244 In seeking to explain the more frequent involvement of some areas in root affections over others, he found that the roots most commonly subjected to irritation were those in connection..with certain organs known to be the seat of active spirochætosis in syphilis. 2001 112 335/1 Cases of root compression due to intervertebral disc herniation, traumatic nerve root avulsion, or inflammatory root affections. 1884 10 378 Peripheric nerve lesions arising from pathological changes in the cerebral root centres, observed in tabes..and epilepsy, can not be included in the same category. 1917 A. J. Jex-Blake in H. French (ed. 3) 433 The painful impressions received from the heart at these root-centres are referred to the corresponding areas of cutaneous nerve distribution. 2006 32 1115/2 The axial plane was chosen to be equidistant from the left and right root centers. 1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Thesaurarye sig. biiijv/2 The Roote drawer..is an Instrumente verye necessary to drawe out any roote of a toothe. 1711 I. 422 A Rosagra, or Root-Drawer. 1844 S. P. Hullihen in June 254 The Compound Root Forceps are about nine inches in length, and like the common straight forceps with the exception that the beak is much longer, and much narrower and thinner at the point. 1853 July 649 It simply consists in lengthening and sharpening them, like a root forcep, and giving room for the crown of the tooth. 1908 27 June 1835/2 The most suitable instrument for removing the teeth is a pair of upper root forceps with long slender blades. 2006 H. S. Batal & G. Jacob in K. R. Koerner ii. 33/2 The roots are elevated and extracted with root forceps. 1913 55 1097/1 The most difficult thing we have to overcome in teaching instrumentation in root-planing is the disposition of the operator to hold the instrument very tightly and strongly in his hand. 1962 G. C. Blake & J. R. Trott x. 105 For pockets under 3mm, only removal of calculus and root planing and polishing are necessary. 2004 (Midwest ed.) 14 Nov. xiii. 1/3 A needle-free dental anesthetic, for the deep-cleaning procedures scaling and root planing (which hurt just to think about). d. (In senses 8 and 10.) In some later quotations passing into adjectival use.1699 T. Edwards 27 God's Love unto or Complacency in their Persons arises not from a pure distinguishing Act of his Love towards them nakedly considered, the very root-cause of Election. 1862 S. G. Griswold ii. 84 The first philosophic systems were crude and simple and attempted to trace back all things to a single root cause. 1915 E. Carpenter i. 12 One might be on safer ground by trying to get at the root-causes of this war. 2007 8 Jan. 30/1 The root cause of sex trafficking is poverty. 1856 J. M. Campbell ii. 37 The following out of that root conception of Christ's identifying of Himself with us. 1913 July 275 It alters the root-conception of the future Balkan state-system as conceived by the politicians of Vienna. 2006 D. L. Pals iii. 111 This root conception serves as the foundation on which the full framework of Durkheim's imposing theory is then erected. 1923 20 564 After this initial and perhaps root confusion, the second most important issue is the pragmatist's claim that moral judgment involves the application of a logic. 2003 Aug. 235/2 Six characteristics of contemporary theatre theory which threaten to promulgate root confusions are listed below. a1658 J. Durham (1681) iii. 49 They would live eternallie here; and this is a root-evil. 1844 July 94/2 Pride—the rank root evil which the Fairies will weed out from the bosom of our heroine. 1918 P. A. Means vii. 174 The root evil of our present political system is that righteous personalities have no chance to assert themselves. 1990 51 41 The Beginner's Rabbi said, I have become convinced that the root evil of our modern society is the breakdown of the family. 1857 M. C. Hume ii. 111 In each, though variously veiled, The same root-fallacy destructive lies. 1920 30 234 I am inclined to think that the root-fallacy is the same for both, the inability to distinguish between content and object. 1993 7 208 The root fallacy is the tenacious belief that every word has a correct definition and it is the task of understanding to find that definition and to act in accordance with it. 1832 J. A. St. John III. 96 It is seldom that very laborious men possess sufficient tranquillity of mind to conceive those root-ideas which produce a revolution in the sciences. 1933 E. Partridge i. 88 The root-idea of blood as something vivid or distressing or both still colours the use of the adjective. 2000 16 9 The root idea underlying this condition is that equality is a relative matter. 1923 D. H. Lawrence vii. 141 Hardly sympathy at all, but an ancient sort of root-knowledge. 1991 N. Haan in W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz I. vii. 261 Dialogue is the actualization of people's root knowledge that they have no alternative but isolation and alienation. 1960 7 Oct. 518/2 Arguing against the consistent record, and against the very root-logic of Zionism. 2002 92 84/1 The root logic by which geographers and geographic traditions appeal..for formal recognition within the academy. 1681 J. Flavell xi. 233 Christ..the comprehensive-root-mercy, from whom are all other mercies. 1851 Jan. 23/1 The criticisms of Goethe and Schiller..show the dimmest appreciation of the root principle of epos and drama. 1917 J. F. Goucher in 403 Give to these nations to the south of us this great Bible and this great root principle of religious growth. 2004 No. 145. 56/2 Realism is alive, well, and creatively reassessing how its root principles relate to the post-9/11 world. 1878 29 Mar. 198/2 The real question which underlay their divisions was not this or that party question, but the root problem of all equality. 1933 H. Read i. 47 This brings us down to the root-problem of aesthetics. 2001 3 July (Tuesday Review section) 2/1 Prozac..can..reduce the ‘noise’ of anger, sorrow, fear, etc, to enable a steadier gaze at the root problems. 1853 C. Kingsley I. viii. 180 He found himself face to face with the root questions of all thought. 1913 P. Gardner iv. 83 The root question which has always exercised the intellect of the Church is as to the nature of her Founder. 2002 87 730 Defining ‘invention’ is of course the root question of patent law. 1875 Oct. 100/2 I introduced my remarks by inquiring, ‘What is the root reason that we all die?’ 1924 R. Hichens iii. xiv. 491 I hated her Then because I loved you. That was the root reason. 2000 88 1254 The root reason for this high success rate is the collegiality and professional nature of the informal peer process. 1930 J. C. Powys (Forewd.) He finds that in his discussion of the root-sensations of life the word Sensuality, taken in an unusually comprehensive sense, serves his purpose better than any other word. 2005 R. Bartsch iii. 117 Such a root-sensation apparently functions as a pointer to the situations of which it is part. 1831 Jan. 89 He [sc. Noah Webster] does, indeed, profess to give what he regards the root-sense the priority. 1976 S. Hynes ii. 56 As the decade moved on, these images took on heavier symbolic meanings..but the root-sense of the images remained the same. 2007 J. Piper in J. Piper & J. Taylor 155 My root sense is that ultimately, for Tony and Doug, committed relationships trump truth. 1859 J. G. Pigg xii. 194 This then is the root-thought of the passage we are considering, that religion is a present reality and a present blessing. 1914 C. P. Gilman (ed. 3) xiii. 236 To the male mind an antagonist is essential to progress... He has planted that root-thought in all the human world. 2002 J. C. Kimiecik iv. 73 When it comes to exercise, many of us have deeply ingrained root thoughts that aren't positive. 1668 J. Flavell Ep. Ded. sig. Av There are multitudes of books indeed, and of them many concern not themselves about root truths. 1854 C. Kingsley 13 There are certain root-truths which I know, because they have been discovered and settled for ages. 1958 25 123 No-one has exposed this root truth about the nature of political activity so unerringly as Conrad. 2002 G. Finley i. 7 The one truth that is the gateway to the Truth we seek: Know thyself. Can you see the beauty in this root truth? 1847 tr. St. Augustine 305 That obedience fall not short in any matter: and this virtue, as the root-virtue, and (as it is wont to be called) the womb..the holy fathers of old exercised in deed. 1918 H. C. King iii. 20 Meekness..is a root-virtue, and essential to the strong man. 2003 44 481/2 It was his root virtue, whether he focused on artistic matters or carried out everyday tasks. 1853 (Royal Soc.) 143 502 Every method of root-limitation is implicitly a method of root-approximation. 1857 in (1864) 10 i. 263 We then, in the common way, establish the existence of the root-factor. 1857 in (1864) 10 i. 266 The curves P = 0, Q = 0, the intersection of which determines the root-points. 1874 in (1879) 12 ii. 395 On the geometrical representation of Cauchy's theorems of Root-limitation. 1931 15 491 Where the roots are real,..no advantage is claimed for root-cubing over root-squaring, the latter method being simple, rapid and uniform. 1989 8 i. 45/1 A potential pitfall with the Newton–Raphson root-finding method. 2002 G. Toth iii. 37 By the factor theorem, the root factor (x −r) divides P. f. (In sense 16.) (a) 1849 T. K. Arnold xii. 67 The accent is the root accent. 1935 G. K. Zipf 133 The explanation offered by Jespersen for extensive root-accent. 2001 19 456 The accented roots..win out over the person marker..because root accent takes precedence over affix accent. 1854 (front matter) The root-element of the language is Anglo-Saxon: the other elements are engrafted on it and modified by it. 1859 18 341/1 The vowels themselves have an original signification, which is a radical root-element in the words expressing that signification. 1935 G. K. Zipf 145 When the accent..was not on the endings, it was always on the stem-formative (suffix or infix) and not on the root-element. 2000 31 617 In Arabic, roots abound whose first root element is m. 1933 9 155 It is a reduplication (perhaps intensive) of the root-enlargement *pūs. 2003 B. L. M. Bauer & G.-J. Pinault in A. Lubotsky & S. Starotsin 259 Pinault..favors the derivation from the PIE root *teh2- ‘to thaw, dissolve’, possibly with the root enlargement -w-. 1860 C. H. Cottrell in tr. C. C. J. von Bunsen IV. v. ii. 136 The principle of root-expansion is clear. The latest mode is the quadrilateral [sic] formation: it becomes a prevalent secondary formation in Coptic. [No corresponding sentences in the German original.] 1901 18 57 A dictionary that makes so much of root-expansion and root-development. 1997 73 666/2 In a section on root expansion, I agree..that colloquial Arabicjab ‘brought’..is from ja ‘came’ + b- ‘with’. 1876 J. Edkins 207 The Mongolian language, like the Chinese and Tibetan, has the three root finals ng, n, m. 1885 G. F. Nicholl i. 7 A general rule affecting all similar root-final compounds. 1922 53 93 We may call the c, and also the j and the h that behave like c, the gutturalizing root-finals. 1965 H. M. Hoenigswald in W. Winter 93 Such extra-Indoiranian etymologies as have been advanced with any promise mostly involve root-final position for the voiceless aspirates. 1997 60 478 Root finals have been shielded from erosion by flexional suffixes. 2005 M. Marten in G. Booij & J. Van Marle 150 The yod was analogically introduced into other verbs with root-final vowels. 1935 G. K. Zipf 177 The total magnitude of complexity of the root-morpheme fac, a typical example, was diminished. 1991 29 319 Sometimes a morpheme may include more than one syllable, e.g. ‘horizontical’ for ‘horizontal’, whether it is an affix or a root morpheme. 1854 W. Barnes 53 There are many of these root-nouns in Icelandic, where they are formed by throwing away the ending a of the infinitive mood. 1962 C. W. Watkins I. 185 The verbal root *med- being identical with the athematic root noun *med-. 2004 124 187 Among the fairly clear patterns that emerge is the strong tendency of root nouns to undergo concretization relative to the processive tí-derivatives. 1970 M. Dahood III. 109 The rootplay evident in yilbešu and boštām..is of a piece with the wordplays that wryly characterize many biblical and Canaanite laments. 1990 34 111 Harris addresses Mandel´štam's paronomasia or ‘root play’: e.g., the fifth octet from the Moscow Notebooks. 1878 9 58 The difference between ‘ab Jove’ and ‘armaque’ is not great, the latter having the root-stress on ‘ar-’. 1965 G. Y. Shevelov iv. 68 In all these cases the Li[thuanian] F[alling] P[itch] type has root stress. 2003 20 141 Many roots and suffixes [in Turkish] are exceptionally stressed, e.g. tárhana ‘dried curd’ (root stress), pénaltz ‘penalty’ (root stress). 1831 P. O. Skene in 191 The organic changes of zog, sott..from the root-syllables of ziehen, sieden, [etc.]. 1900 H. Sweet vi. 103 The place of the accent [in Aryan] was not restricted by any considerations of quantity or distance from the end of the word,..nor was it restricted to the root-syllable of a word. 1990 R. Bly Epil. 242 He appears under the name Cernunnos, or Cornely, or Cornelius, the root syllable emphasizing the stag horns. 1831 P. O. Skene in 185 The further reduction of these 8 classes into 3..may be performed by any one who will remark the uniformity of the root-vowel. 1922 20 197 The nil-grade of the root vowel is represented by OE -tyllan (in fortyllan ‘to seduce’). 1998 74 157 The root vowel of /táandk-i-a/ shortens because it is in pre-antepenultimate position. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > word-formation > [noun] > derivation > word from which others are derived 1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin (xxxiv. 6) i. f. 128/1 All agree not in the woord [Neburou,] which some supposing too bee derived of the rootewoord [Or,] haue translated it [too bee enlyghtened]. 1783 J. Story (ed. 3) 75 Primitive words are root words, or originals, such as are not derived from any other words. 1865 E. B. Tylor iv. 61 Two divisions of the root-words of our Aryan language. 1954 H. Read 196 The root-word vir [in virtue] has the implication of masculinity. 2007 B. Kingsolver xvi. 268 Genuine asafoetida is a European plant in the parsley family, but the root word is fetid. (b) 1887 8 207 During the period while the law was an active force, root-accented words with an initial hard aspirate would in Greek begin with a tenuis. 1938 14 167 Latin has generalized the vowel of the root-accented forms. 2004 B. A. Olsen in J. Clackson & B. A. Olsen 221 The original adjectival type was root-accented. 1907 J. A. Chrichton tr. C. Bezold ii. 123 In those languages in which the root-forming tendency continued in activity for a longer time,..roots were more and more elaborated into Quadrilaterals. 1991 G. D. Kimball xi. 341 The compulsive is a root-forming suffix. 1878 Christmas 86 That dr, as root initial, is never found after the prefix man, seems to be quite accidental. 1956 32 453 The root-initial verb aspect markers are most aptly described in terms of simulfixation. 1988 5 136 Root initials like kt..invariably reduplicate both members. 2005 J. H. Hill ii. 24 The length distinction is audible only in root-initial syllables. 1959 3 249 Root-stressed borrowings in Russian can be assumed to be free of French influence. 2004 J. H. Larsson in J. Clackson & B. A. Olsen 165 The originally root-stressed derivatives with a more concrete meaning..have no metatony and no lengthening. 1818 1 519 A root-note to a chord is its fundamental bass: this root-note is sometimes transferred from the bass to the treble. 1884 J. H. Cornell ix. 24 A Triad is in Root-position, when its highest voice has the root. 1890 16 Aug. 138/2 Mr. Prout gives a complete list of chords available for strict counterpoint, and also a table of root progressions. 1927 Aug. 756/3 The most-used chord (the common chord) root position on the ‘G’ [banjo] is merely a barre. 1988 P. Manuel (1990) iii. 108 The process of ‘root progression’..wherein a bass melody moves in reiterated patterns amongst a higher, multipart tonal structure. 2004 S. Hunter (2005) (P.S. section) 15/1 Trapper, despite not having touched a bass since 1989, had the root notes down fine and got through OK. 1855 C. Kingsley 32 The great root-wonder of a number of distinct individuals connected by a common life. 1922 D. H. Lawrence in Nov. 65 Until your veiled head almost touches backward To the root-rising of your erected tail. 1960 T. Hughes 33 Worm-sort, root-sort, going where it is profitable. C2. 1883 R. Haldane 2nd Ser. 11/2 Root-alcohol.—A number of roots and tubers..have been availed of for the manufacture of alcohol. 1895 1 Aug. 3/2 Root alcohol is six times more poisonous than wine alcohol. 1908 J. Macdonald (rev. ed.) II. iv. 403 In the production of root-alcohol, from potatoes, turnips, sugar-beet, and other green crops, British farmers could compete..against petroleum. the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [noun] > past > aorist > specific 1879 W. D. Whitney xi. 276 Imperative forms of the root-aorist are not rare in the early language. 1955 H. G. Lunt iv. 89 The most wide-spread type of the older aorists was the so-called ‘root-aorist’, attested by over 650 examples with some 27 verbs. 1992 90 205 Root aorists of this type have been abandoned completely in Latin and generally replaced by reduplicated or long-vowel perfects. the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > root-ball or rhizoplane 1837 3 173 If out of doors, plant the vines 3 ft. from the front of the house, just covering the root-ball of each about 2 in. 1900 J. Simpson xi. 141 The root-ball should not be prized or heaved up, but the spade should be only pushed in and withdrawn again. 1930 13 Dec. 11/2 Bogs of black muck dotted with devilish, rotating root-balls that throw a man waist-deep. 2008 L. Chalker-Scott 29 When you upend a container and slide out the root ball, it's an innate response to handle those tiny white and brown strands gingerly. 1941 N. Gomez ii. 154 On receiving root-balled stock, see that the balls are kept wet until planted. 1987 K. Rushforth (1990) iv. 71 (heading) Bare root, container grown or rootballed? 2006 Apr. 34/2 As well as container grown, you may be offered rootballed plants where the roots and soil are wrapped in hessian or similar. the world > food and drink > drink > aerated or carbonated drink > [noun] > root or birch beer the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > non-malted brews > [noun] > others 1815 4 Aug. 4 She..always keeps by her plenty of rhubard, motherwort, yellow-dock, and root beer, to keep the blood in order. 1840 23 May 1/2 The minit I git hum, the old woman will go to making root-beer. 1877 I. 441/1 Saccharine liquors more or less completely fermented, and flavored with various substances, such as spruce beer, ginger beer, root beer, etc. 1921 25 Apr. 8 I was ‘all right’—should I ever want anything better than ginger-ale, root beer, or coco-cola [sic]. 2007 B. Engvall vii. 29 May I have a root beer, no ice? 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence II. xxiii. 372 In the morning..the Hopliæ, root-beetles before mentioned, have their dances in the air. 1929 R. A. Wardle ii. xviii. 447 The principal insect problems of forage crops in the area [sc. Australia] concern the grasshopper Chortoicetes terminifera, the White Grub or Grass Root Beetle, Scitala pruinosa, and the Lucerne Flea. 2008 M. D. Hunter in S. N. Johnson & P. J. Murray v. 79 In turn, as root beetles invade and spread their associated fungi, trees become further weakened and susceptibility increases. the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > [adjective] > cultivated or planted > growing in pot or garden > pot-bound the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [adjective] > potted > pot-bound 1637 J. Milton 23 As Daphne was Root bound that fled Apollo. 1753 12 Apr. 87 Gardens were no longer filled with yews in the shape of giants..and all that race of root-bound monsters. 1800 J. Hurdis (1808) III. 127 The hov'ring flood spreads wide his wings, And..In his mid-waters stand the root-bound files Of wretched willow. 1885 R. T. Cooke 12 It's good for folks and flowers too to be root-bound..sometimes; especially, if we want to bring forth good fruit. 1946 23 Nov. 762/2 Further experiments show the importance of..the feeding of root-bound plants with a balanced fertilizer prior to transplanting. 1984 T. C. Boyle (1985) iv. iv. 282 If Gesh was tangled up in himself, rootbound with frustration, Phil was the sensitive plant. 2006 Apr. (Reader's Digest Compl. Veg. Gardener Extract) 31/3 Avoid starting the seeds too soon, or you could find the seedlings will become too leggy and rootbound to transplant to a bed outdoors. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > root vegetable > [noun] > quamash the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > root vegetables > quamash 1757 U. E. Winkfield I. vi. 99 I..remembered my root bread, I cut a slice of it, and soaked it in the wine. 1805 W. Clark Jrnl. 23 Sept. in (1988) V. 231 Traded for Some root Bread & Skins to make shirts. a1857 D. Thompson (1916) ii. iv. 413 An old Man made a short speech, and made a Present of two cakes of root bread (not moss). 1990 Z. L. Swayne (2003) xvi. 214 Others went to the villages across the river or farther upstream to trade their curiosities for roots and root-bread. the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > substance or parts of teeth > [noun] > pulp-cavity 1864 151 Every one of experience knows how difficult it is to extirpate the vessels and nerves of the root canals after destroying the pulp. 1923 43 682 The first requisite for root-canal filling is the complete sterilisation of the root-canal and tubuli. 1993 4 Aug. a6/2 Many people would prefer undergoing a root canal to such an emotion-wrenching exchange of ideas. 2004 S. Olson vi. 80 This week, they'd pulled the bridge out and had done a root canal on a back molar. the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > root-cap the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > tissue > covering root 1849 E. Lankester tr. M. J. Schleiden ii. i. 51 The green-walled cells of the root-caps [Ger. Luftwurzeln] of Aerides odoratum. 1900 H. L. Keeler 503 This tip is covered with a protecting cap called the root-cap and this may push its way without injury to the growing point. 2005 10 44/1 As the root advances through the soil, the root cap is the first to encounter challenges, often stressful, in the new soil environment. 1841 M. Stuart (ed. 2) 107 With root-character ϕ. 1865 9 144 At least fifteen [letters of the Hebrew alphabet]..bear meanings identical with meanings attached to similar forms among the Chinese root characters. 1927 J. Daniel viii. 162 Each radical or root character in the Bardic alphabet is the representation of the cutting of some sprig. 2008 J. D. Skouson iv. 39 The Japanese language..consists of thousands of pictographs (many of which are combinations of basic root characters). 1879 W. D. Whitney ix. 208 The root-class [of verbs]..its present-stem is coincident with the root itself. 1933 9 8 All scholars are agreed that root-class verbs such as IE esmi ‘I am’..represent an archaic conjugation type which tends to die out in all historic languages. 1995 A. L. Sihler 538 The irregular verbs..do not conform to any of the four conjugations... The usual reason for this is the survival of athematic forms of the root class. the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [noun] > creeping, climbing, or spiring > creeping or climbing plant > types of 1865 C. Darwin in 9 25 The passage from a spirally twining plan to a simple root-climber. 1915 Sept. 33/3 A root-climber that should be in every garden is the Climbing Hydrangea (H. petiolaris). 2005 J. Dawson & R. Lucas i. 24 Root climbers are the most tolerant of shade and are best represented in closed-canopy forest. 1808 C. Vancouver i. 71 The root coal has a broken and wavy texture. 1814 (1830) VII. at Devonshire A strong appearance of the trunks and roots of the Scotch fir may be traced in the root coal. the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > [noun] > junction of trunk and root 1823 101 457 The root-collar is the medial line, or point of communication, between the ascending and descending portions of the nourishment. 1911 51 385 Typical sprouting over this area is confined to trees under 5 cm. in diameter, which send up most of the shoots from the root collar. 2003 D. Prendergast & E. Prendergast iii. 51 When the tree is positioned and straight, backfill the hole to just below the root collar. 1728 E. Chambers Matrice, in Dying, is applied to the five simple Colours, whence all the rest are derived or composed. These are the Black, White, Blue, Red, and Fallow or Root Colour. 1771 J. Keir tr. P. J. Macquer I. 217 The green shells of wallnuts, the root of the wallnut-tree, sumach, saunders, bark of alder,..give a dun color, called a root-color. 1869 F. P. Porcher 217 The bark and roots [of the walnut] dye cotton fawn brown and root color, according to the proportion of bark or of roots and copperas used. 1902 Catal. 30 in C. Salter tr. G. von Georgievics (end matter) Of substances used in dyeing fawn and root colour. 1771 J. Keir tr. P. J. Macquer I. 215/1 The nuts and roots employed in the root-colored dye. 1811 2 June 351/2 The bottom of the dress trimmed with pale French roses, and a plaiting of green and root-coloured ribband mixed. the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun] > other crops 1772 J. Marshall III. ii. 48 His root crops all appeared very good. 1847 W. C. L. Martin 115/1 Of all these root-crops, it appears that the least exhausting to the land is that of the beet. 1901 L. H. Bailey ix. 271 Root crops require a cool season and a deep soil. 2006 July 89/1 Any physical barriers such as stones in the soil will make root crops twist. 1825 P. W. Watson II. 160 (table) Branches..divaricated, arising from near the root-crown and pendant to the ground. 1920 C. F. Saunders vi. 118 Cut back the tops to within an inch of the root-crown and bury the roots to within an inch of the top. 2007 (Nexis) 23 Mar. d3 Sometimes cutting the plant to the ground will help to stimulate growth from the root crowns. 1819 S. W. Pomeroy Let. 29 Dec. in (1820) July 150 On most farms near sea ports, where corn and manure can be purchased, the system of potatoe and root culture, to the exclusion of corn, may be found profitable. 1909 34 That root culture lies at the basis of good husbandry is the candid opinion of many successful farmers of long experience. 1940 E. R. Spencer iii. 297 Some very fine varieties of chicory have been selected for root culture and shoot forcing. 2008 E. F. George 11/2 Root culture initially attracted a great deal of attention from research workers and the roots of many different species of plants were cultured successfully. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > by cuttings > cutting or slip 1784 J. Abercrombie I. 142 Some particular trees and plants..are propagated occasionally by root cuttings. 1870 Dec. 372/1 A root cutting of a variegated plant as far as we know, produces but green leaved plants. 1954 A. G. L. Hellyer 68/2 As a rule root cuttings are taken while the plant is dormant, which means generally, in winter. 2003 J. Larkcom (rev. ed.) 84/2 French tarragon rarely sets seeds, so propagate it by dividing old plants or from root cuttings. 1864 B. W. Dwight (ed. 3) I. 350 These additions expanding the form, while limiting the sense of the simple ultimate root itself, and so having a very sharply defining power in themselves, we call root-determinatives, as dh in yudh. 1913 S. T. H. Hurwitz i. 5 The root-determinative..is a constant; and..any apparent variation from the principle is due to the affixing of other distinct determinative elements. 1993 W. P. Lehmann (1996) vii. 147 It [sc. English] maintains processes inaugurated in Proto-Indo-European, by which root determinatives and suffixes are used for expressing nominal and verbal functions. 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence II. xxiii. 349 The root-devourers or tree-chafers (Melolontha, Hoplia, &c.) support themselves..in the air and over the trees. the world > people > ethnicities > North American peoples > [noun] > Indian of specific type of tribe 1831 W. Gordon Let. 3 Oct. in A. H. Abel (1932) 346 Many of these [Snake Indians (Shoshone)] go by the name which signifies Root digger, because they live by digging roots. 1833 N. J. Wyeth First Jrnl. 30 Apr. in (1899) 192 About 100 of them [sc. women] with their root diggers..went out to get roots. 1865 J. Lubbock xii. 420 Root-diggers are either made of horns, or of crooked sticks pointed and hardened by fire. 1947 B. A. De Voto 432 ‘Root-digger’..describes all the tribes, most of them superior tribes, that lived in localities where there were staple crops of edible roots and bulbs. 2000 S. L. Smith v. 111 She talked about a sixty-year-old woman who fended off a Lakota war party, armed only with her root digger, while singing her medicine song. 1904 46 13/2 From root-divergence, frequently the finished piece is stronger than many of its multiples. 1927 W. H. Auden & C. Day Lewis p. vi The logical conflict, between the denotatory and connotatory sense of words, which is the root-divergence of classic and romantic. 1999 D. Morris in R. Barbaras 276 To show how science can be compelled by this call, yet veer away from it, will reveal a root divergence between science and phenomenology. 2008 134 97/1 The maximum root divergence was observed when the canine had lingual root orientation and the premolar buccal root orientation. the world > health and disease > healing > healer > alternative practitioner > [noun] > herbalist the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > using plants > one who uses 1814 S. Henry 347 Two ounces of life root (which is known only by the root doctors,) pulverized. 1890 19 Apr. 1/1 Carmier was what people call down here a root doctor... He..made his living curing the sick and selling his medicine. 1900 13 228 People git conjur from the root-doctors and one root-doctor often works against another. 1962 75 315 She finally went to a root doctor and was informed that her husband and three women had placed a spell upon her. 2004 T. Zepke 151 With the advances of modern medicine, the herbal remedies promised by root doctors are frowned upon. 1700 G. Booth tr. Diodorus Siculus ii. 94 The Rizophages or Root Eaters. 1836 W. Irving I. 276 Another class [of the Snake Indians (Shoshone)]..are called Shuckers, or more commonly Diggers and Root eaters. 1880 7 Aug. 68/2 The rest of the rodentia, mostly seed or root eaters, are neglected. 1925 R. G. Thwaites in E. Kenton p. xxii The savage root-eaters of the Rocky Mountain region. 2009 (Nexis) 30 Jan. b3 Soap probably doesn't taste good to gophers, either, so plants contain saponins to deter these and other root-eaters. 1841 6 139 In the same manner the root-excretions of Inula Helenium, Scabiosa arvensis,Carduus arvensis,..[etc.] were examined. 1868 S. Johnson Index p. xii Exp. on root-excretion. 1938 111/1 Among more recent concepts is that of the possibility of beneficial root-excretions, to which the older view ascribed toxic properties and the responsibility for soil-sickness. 2009 70 828 It was postulated that this enzyme could be responsible for the switch of root excretion from malate to citrate and has an impact on the nature of the carboxylate excreted. 1838 346/1 Col. Powel relates an experiment of feeding two heifers; one upon Indian meal, and the other upon roots, in which he is inclined to give the preference to the root feeding. 1854 Feb. 128/2 As the potato was the only portion of the produce of the land which the tiller could call his own—the labourer..was more of a root-feeding animal. 1910 F. D. Coburn 248 In all our experiments we have obtained very satisfactory results from root feeding, so far as firmness of bacon is concerned. 2001 J. Robinson iv. 112 The beetle Dermolepida albohirtum, a major root-feeding pest of sugarcane in Australia. 1889 13 I have in my mouth a lower molar which has been root-filled with cotton for seventeen years. 1977 70 439/1 Teeth root-filled or crowned before operation were excluded from these results. 1997 (Nexis) 30 May 38 [He] extracted the rotten tooth and root-filled six others. 1904 20 344/2 Three times in quick succession the big trout rushed madly for the root-filled bank. 1915 R. Eckermann in H. R. F. Brooks 174/2 Dead teeth, root-filled teeth, and gangrenous teeth, which lack living elements, should therefore be more easily attacked by caries than others. 1963 C. R. Cowell et al. viii. 84 A post-retained crown is commonly indicated for a root-filled anterior tooth the natural crown of which has become discoloured. 2002 M. Gurney & K. Howe ii. 17 The hike begins with an ascent along a root-filled trail up the southern flank of Paget Peak. 1858 8 257 Has never practiced root filling. 1890 25 Oct. 880/1 We must make exception to the statement that the best root filling, after the removal of the pulp, is tightly packed antiseptic cotton-wool. 1963 C. R. Cowell et al. viii. 85 The root filling should be well condensed. 1994 3 Nov. 16/5 £43 million a year is spent on NHS root-fillings. 1841 T. W. Harris 415 The radish-fly..closely resembles the root-fly (Anthomyia radicum) of Europe. 1893 3rd Ser. 4 819 During June and July complaints were received of the ravages of root-fly maggots. 1959 A. Beaumont ix. 113 It is an advantage to combine root fly and club root control measures in the one operation. 2008 (Nexis) 5 Apr. (Gardening) 2 Cover seedlings with enviromesh or horticultural fleece to protect from birds, caterpillars and rootfly. the world > animals > invertebrates > protozoa > class Sarcodina > order Rhizopoda > [adjective] 1843 12 471 The non-locomotive Crinoidea he subdivides into solid-footed and root-footed. 1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham ii. ix. 242 The rhizopoda or root-footed animals. 1908 C. J. Cornish III. vi. vii. 768 Next to the Flagellates come the Root-footed Animalcules, which possess no mouth and no hairs or lashes. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > bacterial diseases 1830 J. Rennie xix. 385 (caption) Root-Galls of the Oak, produced by Cynips quercus inferus ? drawn from a specimen. 1902 C. F. Hodge 215 If an apple tree becomes sickly from no visible cause..its roots should be examined, and if the root galls are found, it is generally best to dig it up. 2004 36 36 Of the 56 species and 43 genera of Asteraceae tested, 9 were highly resistant or immune to Meloidogyne incognita and did not form root galls. 1562 W. Turner f. 56v Theyr root gatherers digged not theyr rootes hole out of grounde. 1816 tr. Lucian v. 31 You..are a root-gatherer, and a quack. 1937 May 671/1 With bag over one shoulder and small grubbing hoe in hand, the root gatherer trudges wherever he knows certain plants may be expected to grow. 2002 R. Porter ii. 25 Elevating themselves above root-gatherers, diviners and others whom they dismissed as ignoramuses and quacks, the Hippocratics promoted natural theories of health. 1767 6 They [sc. the people of the East Indies] stew all the flesh,..to which they put onions, and herbs, and root ginger, (which they take green out of the earth). 1838 1 416/1 Take one pound of root ginger, beat it into small pieces in a mortar. 1967 11 Jan. 13 Seville orange and ginger marmalade... 2lb. Seville oranges..1 lemon..1oz. root ginger, bruised, [etc.]. 1994 S. Owen 41 2.5cm..piece of root ginger, peeled. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > grafting > place where graft inserted 1824 J. C. Loudon (ed. 2) ii. iv. 396 Such root-grafts grow with uncommon vigour. 1887 176 As a visitor passes about the rooms, he sees plainly labeled a collection of natural root-grafts of large pine stumps. 1956 K. D. Brase 29/1 Grafts are classified according to the position they take upon the stock, as root graft and top graft. 1995 J. R. Tester iv. 95/1 Root grafts between elms also provide pathways for the spread of the fungus. the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > [noun] > root > root-graft the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > propagate [verb (transitive)] > a cutting: graft > root-graft 1838 2 100/2 Trees planted from the seed bed which have not been root grafted. 1900 661/2 In the West apples at least are usually root-grafted. 1951 (Royal Hort. Soc.) II. 919/2 Rhododendrons..are..frequently root-grafted, using roots of common species of their genus as stocks. 2000 P. Thomas 98 The wood of a fig species that was root-grafted on to an Indian tree, Vateria indica, that yields an aromatic gum, had the smell of the Vateria. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [adjective] > grafted 1835 J. Main 217 Much may be done in this way among exotics by an ingenious cultivator who may have a hot bed to plunge his root-grafted plants into. 1900 663/2 In the East..budded apple trees are preferable to root-grafted trees. 1942 M. G. Kains & L. M. McQuesten (rev. ed.) xii. 294 Ten Walldow root-grafted trees were all dead but one limb on one tree. 1993 25 380/1 Root-grafted individuals might more efficiently acquire water and nutrients than do single individuals. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > grafting > other methods of grafting 1707 J. Mortimer 513 (margin) Root grafting. 1817 (1830) XI. 196/1 Recourse is sometimes had to root-grafting. 1886 G. Nicholson II. 91/2 Plants largely propagated by Root-grafting are Bignonias, Clematis, Hollyhocks, and Wistarias. 1916 11 398 Trees with wide-spreading and superficial lateral roots are more likely to unite in root grafting than are those with deeply penetrating roots that have few laterals. 1939 G. W. Adriance & F. R. Brison xii. 194 Root grafting refers to a grafting operation whereby a scion is grafted onto a root, used as a stock. 2008 N. Nadkarni i. 30 Where elms are planted close together, root grafting may occur, and the fungus can move seamlessly from one tree to the next. 1841 XX. 152/2 On the lower surface of [the roots of] Marchantia, prolongations of the cellular tissue are observed, which Meyen calls root hairs or capillary fibrils. 1900 H. L. Keeler 503 The root-hairs are found on the ultimate branches just back of the growing point; their function is to absorb nutriment from the soil. 2006 R. Alexander v. 266/2 At or near the tip of each root, you may just be able to see a white, fuzzy mass of root hairs. These are only just visible with the naked eye. 1994 Re: NETCOM News in (Usenet newsgroup) 31 Dec. He didn't use no steenking rootkit toolbox stuff, he did it the *hard* way. 2002 D. Verton i. 12 He moved on to some light coding, root kit setup, tactics for erasing log trails, and strategies for becoming an invisible ‘ghost’ on a system. 2005 4 Aug. (Life section) 15/1 One variant of CoolWebSearch is now based on a rootkit, enabling it to hide itself from scanners. the world > plants > disease or injury > [adjective] > of or having disease caused by insect the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > caused by insects > associated with crop or food plants 1888 89 I would like to speak of what is termed root-knot by fruit growers. 1912 E. W. Swanton viii. 107 Miss Ormerod first reported the occurrence of this pest, known as the ‘root-knot’ eelworm, in Britain. 2003 Apr. 27/2 Choose disease-resistant cultivars to alleviate problems such as bacterial leaf spot, southern root-knot nematodes or viruses. 1808 Feb. 82 T[homas] H[ollis] has been particularly industrious in collecting Grammars and Lexicons of the Oriental Root languages, to send to Harvard college. 1859 Feb. 123 It [sc. Chinese] is a language of monosyllables, a root-language, as we may call it, an undeveloped form of human speech. 1900 1 June 842/1 Form New Zealand..to Madagascar..we find a root language covered by the same grammatical system. 1954 J. H. Greenberg in R. F. Spenser 196 Of his [sc. Schlegel's] first class, called by later writers isolating or root languages, he says, ‘One might say that all their words are roots, but sterile roots which produce neither plants nor trees’. 2008 K. James 32 One thing we must ask..is whether it is really possible for whole language families to evolve from root languages in 4000 years. the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > mean 1895 27 Sept. 721/1 A short time ago Dr. Fleming published a new and ingenious method of plotting wave forms with polar co-ordinates, and of directly obtaining therefrom the root mean-square value. 1956 A. A. Townsend iii. 51 The rate of increase of the decay scale is proportional to the root-mean-square turbulent velocity. 1978 9 Mar. 143/2 We note here that sound pressures as well as displacement are expressed as root-mean-squares. 2006 102 148/2 The root-mean-square error (RMSE) during image rectification was less than 0.2 pixels. the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > root nodule 1877 26 July 74 The root-nodules [of cucumber] are generally assumed to have a fungal origin. 1888 (Univ. Tennessee) 71 The beneficial work of soil microbes is not confined to that done in the root nodules and tubercles alone, but it is to a large extent general throughout the soil. 1949 A. Nelson xxv. 391 The root nodule, so typical of this bacterial association with a legume, commences when the bacterium enters the root hair of the legume. 2005 J. Diamond (2006) ix. 282 Its [sc. casuarina] root nodules that fix nitrogen, and its copious leaf-fall, add both nitrogen and carbon to the soil. 1869 Oct. 429 Among the earliest advances out of the primitive root-period was doubtless the uniting of the personal pronouns to a verb stem. 1909 O. Jespersen iv. 82 We have to picture to ourselves the primeval structure of our own language (in the root-period) as something analogous. 2001 F. Curta i. 6 Herder's concept of national character (Volksgeist), unalterably set in language during its early ‘root’ period, made language the perfect instrument for exploring the history of the Slavs. the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > root pressure 1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs iii. i. 600 (caption) Apparatus for observing the force with which water escapes under root-pressure from the transverse section of a stem. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 1220 At two atmospheres the water would be raised by this root pressure to a height of only about seventy feet, and many trees are much higher. 2009 10 604 Refilling of the xylem occurs by a dual mechanism: from the base (by root pressure) and from the top (by hydrostatic pressure generated by xylem-bound osmotic pressure). the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [verb (transitive)] > trees: prune or lop > root-prune 1812 E. Sang Jan. 133 These kinds..will..in consequence of being thus root-pruned, or tapped as it is called, push many more fibres on the upper part of their roots. 1909 (Royal Bot. Gardens, Kew) No. 9. 282 The Grevillea plants had been transplanted and root-pruned during the operation. 2002 (National ed.) 3 Feb. viii. 17/1 After 19 years I still don't need to root prune my ponytail palm. the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > pruning or lopping > root-pruning 1793 T. S. D. Bucknall Let. 15 Nov. in (1797) 53 The trees ought from their earliest infancy be in good hands, properly manured, and root pruning introduced. 1859 Feb. 73 I have long been convinced that root pruning will ultimately supersede all other methods of inducing fruitfulness in trees. 1919 13 Dec. 17/6 If there is much growth there must be root-pruning. 2008 L.Chalker-Scott 86 Root pruning stimulates the growth and development of new roots that will enhance tree establishment. 1844 Sept. 271/1 A pair of good oxen..will make rapid head-way in clearing out the roots. A large iron claw, called a root-puller, is very useful for this business. 1905 118 After the second plowing, the rootstocks of the grass are to be removed by means of a root puller. 1952 S. Selvon ix. 161 With a root-puller attached the tractor would move up to a tree and the arms would reach down into the earth and wrest the tree out. 1998 (Nexis) 27 Dec. 2 i1 Remember when I loaned you my candy thermometer, hedge clippers, root pullers or curling iron? Do you think I could have the item back now? 1754 J. Justice ii. 206 They may be laid up into their respective Apartments in the Root-room to dry. ?1799–1801 H. C. Andrews II. Pl. CXXIV This plant requires a considerable degree of moisture and heat, as well as much root room and rich earth. 1854 13 258 This passage way..admits of a wagon or cart being backed, for loading of roots from the root room. c1887 G. M. Hopkins (1967) 103 I do advise You, jaded, let be; call off thoughts awhile Elsewhere; leave comfort root-room. 1937 Apr. 100/4 To get good fruit and plenty of it, there must be root room and abundant sunshine. 1992 S. Birdsell ii. xii. 243 Elaine also has a root room for storing turnips, parsnips, and carrots. 2005 (National ed.) 10 Feb. d2/1 C. thomsoniae blooms on new growth. Summer it outdoors if you can. And give it a large pot; it likes a lot of root room. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > characterized by part affected or appearance produced 1831 P. Matthew vi. 305 In Larch,..the hardest and most durable wood is grown upon poor, hard, thin tills..even where the root-rot commences about thirty years of age. 1933 58 280 The occurrence of root-rot of Sweet Peas..is described as one of the causes possibly associated with the streak disease of Sweet Peas. 2004 (National ed.) 26 Aug. d2/1 Persian shield likes plenty of water, but it is likely to get root rot in packaged potting soil, which is too heavy for it. 1870 4 431/2 A moist, cool, rich root-run are the sure and certain means of reaping a plentiful harvest of luscious strawberries. 1882 Jan. 35/3 Roses..cease to grow altogether if their root-run remain saturated. 1959 8 The plot should be deeply dug, allowing free root run. 2005 D. Burke 99/2 Darwinias like a position in full sun to semi-shade, with good drainage and a cool root run. 1649 tr. V. Weigel 36 Whosoever seem to seek and take their livelyhood from the earth by the labours of their hands, as are Potters, Tile-makers, bearers of dead bodies, Fishmongers, Rootsellers, Colliers, and others of this kind. 1698 L. Meriton (new ed.) sig. Kivv (table) Herb and Root-sellers. 1851 H. Mayhew I. 130/1 The ‘root-sellers’ (as the dealers in flowers in pots are mostly called). 1898 No. 563. 164 This prohibition is also specially for those who are wholesale druggists, perfumers, or root sellers. 1938 in (1968) 40 338/1 When spring came down to London, the root seller appeared,..bringing primroses and violets for city gardens. 1998 C. S. Godshalk 424 The root seller's booth seemed particularly fragrant as she passed. 1805 1 105 Root-sheath radical, disappearing. 1845 19 569 The root-sheath of the hair..is only the epidermis of the follicle. 1968 55 391 (title) A mucilaginous root sheath in Ericaceae. 1993 73 274/1 The phenotype of hair-waving mutants such as wa-1 has been hypothesized to result from malfunctions in the internal root sheath that disturb hair movement. the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > root > sign of 1848 C. Plotts xviii. 254 This character (√) is called the radical (root) sign. 1930 A. 127 355 The expressions under the root sign are positive, and we shall agree to take the positive value of the square root. 2007 I. Stewart iv. 48 Cube roots, fourth roots.., and so on are shown by putting a small raised number in front of the ‘root’ sign. 1838 lxii. 123 As the tower sapped by miners, the root-stricken tree, Your sudden destruction, ye wicked! shall be. 1860 C. Rossetti (1865) 189 Thou, root-striken, shalt not rebuild thy decay On my bosom for aye. 1925 E. Rickword (1991) 85 Root-stricken Fancy in an endless swoon dies but decays not. a1732 T. Boston (1776) xi. 375 The gospel-doctrine has got a root-stroke by the condemning of that book. 1752 78 Even when the Root-Stroke is given in Believers, the Rod of Pride buds again. 1895 A. Thomson xi. 212 The two courses formed an elaborate system of evangelical theology,..giving many a ‘root-stroke’ to crude thoughts which were the growth of half knowledge. 1901 Sept. 314/1 Big red arches between spreading root swells and trees growing close together. 1932 6 Sept. 6/11 The famous Wye oak..is reported to be 27 feet 8 inches in circumference four and a half feet above ground, but the measurement taken at this point is said to include large root swells. 2000 81 529/1 For refuges in stumps, I recorded diameter of the stump just above root swell. the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > [noun] > root > buttress-root 1851 June 475/1 All turnip disease and clover sickness and root-swelling of oats will be prevented. 1902 1 56 The influence of the enlarged base of the bole (root-swelling) is appreciable at the breast-high point, and gives the stem a neiloid form. 1932 E. B. Fred et al. 166 The bacteria gain entrance into the root but are immediately absorbed... Small root swellings later entirely vanish. 1954 W. E. Hiley ix. 134 By girthing at 6 feet instead of 5 feet it may be possible to get away from the root swelling which usually occurs at the base of a large tree and often gives rise to inaccurate estimating. 2006 (Nexis) 18 Nov. (Gardening section) 2 Dig up Jerusalem artichokes. The root swellings are tasty as long as the soil isn't engrained in the knobbles. 1859 92 The above remarks as to root treatment apply equally to Camellias. 1887 19 436 Weakened by decay, by filing, and the cutting away necessary for root-treatment, and robbed of their support, the teeth break down under the ever-increasing strain. 1970 46 308/1 For root treatment the pesticides were dissolved directly in deionized water. 2000 28 296/1 Dental caries accounted for the majority 463 (51%) extractions, with failed root treatments being given as the reason in a further 34 (4%) cases. 1806 B. M'Mahon 640 This grass [sc. Cyperus esculentus] deserves to be cultivated, not principally on account of its foliage but of its root-tubers, which are..considered superior to chesnuts. 1888 G. Henslow xxv. 231 Ranunculus Ficaria..propagates itself by root-tubers and by aërial corms. 1955 G. Grigson 425 Dig up an Early Purple Orchid and you find two root-tubers in which food is stored, a new, firm one, which is filling up for next year's growth, [and] an old, slack one. 2000 24 May 21/2 Extract of Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), a South African root tuber, contains natural anti-inflammatory analgesics. the world > plants > part of plant > root > [noun] > root nodule 1847 2 759 Showing the variations in the thickness of the root-tubercles. 1894 1 Mar. 68/1 (heading) The root-tubercles of peas, beans, and vetches. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) I. xiii. 305 The intruder may be a bacterium, as in the root-tubercles of clover and other leguminous plants. 1990 4 167/2 It was suggested by Frank in 1890 that root tubercles in leguminous plants represent an intimate mixture of host and invading organism protoplasm. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > root vegetables 1835 28 169 We find so many potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, and other root vegetables eaten below the surface of the ground. 1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. V. 895 Raw fruits, root vegetables, and bread must be avoided. 1957 P. Worsley 15 The people live by cultivating..root-vegetables. 1976 1 Nov. 4/3 The sandy soil there, he reckons, suits root vegetables just fine. 2004 E. Makis 295 I watched her wash the kolokassi and dry it with a towel, before peeling the thick skin of the muddy-brown root vegetable, reminiscent of an oversized sweet potato. 1793 Sept. 253 Nor will he despise the filth and rubbish of a root-woman's cellar. 1839 1 418 I left my art to root-women and priests. 1955 H. Lewis iii. 77 One elderly informant told about her sister who was seized in her youth with a state that caused her to turn around and around. A ‘root woman’ was called in. 2005 S. Y. Mitchem in L. L. Barnes & S. S. Sered xvii. 284 From the granny midwives to the folk-doctoring root women to spiritual healers, women have been an integral part of black communities' experiences of healing. 1789 11 601 On root worms, by M. Bierkander, published in the Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm, 1777. 1802 1st Ser. VIII. 190 Five [worms]..are very destructive to Indian corn... The fourth is the root worm. 1883 3 Aug. 143/2 These observations refer chiefly to the crown-borer, the root-worm, and the crown-miner. 1962 C. L. Metcalf & W. P. Flint (ed. 4) xv. 795 (caption) Adult of the strawberry rootworm, Paria carnella. 2006 Dec. 14/2 Bats are powerful farm and garden allies, feeding voraciously on..crop-damaging pests like corn rootworms. C3. attributive. Music. With the first element in plural form. Cf. senses 13, 13c. a. 1969 9 Aug. 8/1 The ‘roots’ music of southern blues singers and wandering guitar pickers who played their own songs to coffehouse crowds. 1977 2 Apr. 12/1 Carlos Santana has returned to his ‘roots’ sound. 1988 (W. H. Smith) No. 4. 40/3 Skaggs has rekindled his enthusiasm and roots sensibilities. 1992 (Nexis) 2 May 61 Rearranged versions of traditional standards like ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’. Not just for sacred music lovers, but for anyone with an abiding interest in great roots sounds. 2005 R. Nidel ii. 157 Croatia's leading roots ensemble has strived to conserve Croatia's traditional musical and dance-oriented customs for almost 60 years. 1974 29 Dec. (Mag. section) 7/3 Clinton is the manager of the Wild Bunch, Inc., the up-and-coming roots (nitty-gritty) reggae band in Crown Heights. 1980 M. Thelwell xiv. 292 The joint was gummy wid presshah, yaah, an' rocking under a steady, steady reggae roots beat. 1997 S. Barrow & P. Dalton vii. 286/1 Little John's ‘Fade Away’, an exemplary sound-boy interpretation of Junior Byles' roots classic. 2000 L. Bradley (2001) xix. 465 The last was a classy piece of roots rocksteady, with a central theme not simply imploring the masses to leave Babylon to its own devices but to join the ranks of Rastafari. 2008 Feb. 57/3 A solid set of dreadwise roots tunes from late 70s Kingston. b. society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > [noun] > other general types 1969‘Roots’ music [see Compounds 3a(a)]. 1979 17 Dec. 7/2 What Ellsworth has described as ‘roots music’. 1983 13 Feb. ii. 28/3 Mr. Newton's fondness for black roots music like blues and gospel interact throughout the written and improvised portions of each piece. 1996 L. Al-Hafidh et al. (ed. 3) i. 45 Look out also for the Womad get-togethers..celebrating World, folk and roots music. 2008 11 Apr. (Film & Music section) 6/4 He has racked up..a flurry of domestic hits in Jamaica, by concentrating on a 21st-century variety of roots music. society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > Jamaican 1976 17 Apr. 19/5 A nice balance between the massively solid rhythm section sound of roots reggae and the clean, sharp fullness of studio rock. 2006 24 Aug. (London ed.) 31/4 DJ Derek..selects a feel-good soundtrack of roots reggae, lover's rock and dancehall. Derivatives 1792 W. Withering (ed. 2) III. 401 Its form is rather elegant, swelling out from the root-like stem, into an oblong circular form. 1832 J. Lindley iii. v. 351 Generally the root or root-like bodies are to be excluded from all characters higher than those of species. 1893 T. R. R. Stebbing i. 11 The Rhizocephăla are a parasitic set, which send rootlike filaments into the bodies of their hosts. 1941 R. Headstrom xxxiv. 120 It [sc. the moss plant] is anchored to the ground by rather stout root-like hairs (rhizoids). 2001 H. Holmes v. 67 Fungi obligingly clean them up, weaving a microscopic net of rootlike hyphae over the surface. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). rootn.2 Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: root v.2 Etymology: < root v.2With sense 1 perhaps compare earlier rout n.9 With sense 3 perhaps compare mallee root n. at mallee n. Compounds, rhyming slang for prostitute n. 1846 Saddles to Rags in J. H. Dixon 129 I can give these old bones a root. 1892 D. Jordan (ed. 2) 56 Fur, fish, and feather need all look alive when Toby was on the root. 1895 Oct. 248 One of our rustic friends had a sow, with a litter of pigs, out on the root, as he termed it. 1905 J. Walker (new ed.) xxvii. 79 A pig..thrives more kindly when not so much on the root as the unrung one is. 1945 in B. A. Botkin (1949) i. ii. 56 If all the hogs in Texas were one big hog, he would be able to dig the Panama Canal in three roots. 2008 (Nexis) 24 Aug. (Features) 28 Having a bit of a root through his neighbour's rubbish. the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific thing > [noun] > with the foot > kicking > a kick 1907 16 Feb. 126/1 Stub (in one house [at Rossall School] ‘root’ = kick). 1912 22 The ordinary citizen gets a root in the tail and is thrown out of the office of this despot railroad for his polite and timid request. 1934 N. Scanlan 46 Matt gave him ‘a root in the gear’ and told him not to talk like a stable boy. 1975 ‘H. Leonard’ Da in XLIV. i. 311 It'll be nothing compared to the root I'll give your Aunt Bridgie. 1999 R. Doyle viii. 92 You'll soon catch the bastard. And you can give him a root in the hole from me. the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual partner > [noun] > specifically female the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > [noun] > sexual intercourse > an act of 1961 F. Hardy iii. 77 The conversation led inevitably to women. Our shabby criminal struck a match revealing..a sign scrawled on the wall: ‘Best American root—ring such and such a number.’ 1973 A. Buzo i. 43 Hey, do you remember the time he got pissed out of his mind and fronted up to this old duck and asked her for a root? 1985 6 Dec. 12/2 Which one of you girls is going to take your clothes off and give me a root? 2008 (Nexis) 24 Oct. 23 She told me he was a good root and very handsome and younger than her and it turned her on. Compounds 1891 Feb. 935/1 The prevalence of shooting at one another a practice in which few indulge, thereby spoiling a rootabout for the rest. 1900 J. S. Farmer 169 Root-about..(The Leys), promiscuous football practice. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rootv.1 Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: root n.1 Etymology: < root n.1, in senses 6a and 6b after post-classical Latin radicare radicate v. Compare Old Swedish rota to provide with roots, to fix or establish firmly, (used reflexively) to take root (Swedish rota , also used reflexively), Danish rode to take root (now only in compounds, e.g. dybrodende having deep roots, fladrodende having shallow roots), and also Middle Dutch wortelen to take root, to have a basis or origin (Dutch wortelen ), Middle Low German wortelen to take root, to have a basis or origin, to provide with roots, Old High German wurzalōn to take root (in Old High German only in figurative use; Middle High German wurzelen , wurzeln , German wurzeln , now usually ‘to have a basis or origin’; the sense ‘to pull out by the roots’ is now represented by the prefixed verb entwurzeln ). Compare earlier rooted adj., outroot v., unroot v., uproot v.1, and (with sense 3) rout v.10In form wroot apparently influenced by the etymologically unrelated wroot v. I. To pull up by the roots and related senses. ?c1335 in W. Heuser (1904) 82 (MED) Þe ax is at þe rote; Þe fent vnfre halt al to gle Þis tre adun to rote. the world > space > place > removal or displacement > extraction > extract [verb (transitive)] > root out or up the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > do away with or eradicate a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 11 (MED) I..dradde..to putte forþ my bareyn speche..as who so roteþ vp [L. vellicans] moolberyes and serueþ likerous men..wiþ soure grapes. a1425 (Stonyhurst) f. 4v Auello, to rote vp. 1533 T. Paynell tr. U. von Hutten 60 The disease is rooted vp & drawen from the inner partis, and the rootynge vp is peynfull. 1555 in J. Strype (1824) III. App. xl. 111 And root up the rotten race of the ungodly. 1565 T. Cooper at Extirpo Extirpare & funditus tollere vitia, to roote vp and take cleane away. 1611 1 Kings xiv. 15 The Lord..shall root vp Israel out of this good land, which hee gaue to their fathers. View more context for this quotation 1647 J. Mayne 21 There was no way left to reforme drunkenness in their State, but utterly to root up, and extirpate, and banish Vines. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil 83 Root up wild Olives from thy labour'd Lands. View more context for this quotation 1737 Jan. 48/2 As if they intended..to root up all Order and Harmony of Government. 1789 J. Byng Diary 10 June in C. B. Andrews (1935) II. 18 They levell all the timber, and..root up and narrow the hedges. 1826 J. H. Newman (1891) I. 140 As I came outside the Southampton coach to Oxford, I felt as if I could have rooted up St. Mary's spire. 1877 F. Ross et al. at Whick To root up weeds from amongst corn. 1927 B. B. Lindsey & W. Evans x. 267 Being rooted up and transplanted—I can't tell you what a deadly thing I have found it! 1950 Apr. 59/1 (advt.) Live, resilient rubber teeth are stiff enough to rake clean, yet won't root up or tear grass or harm tender plants. 1998 (Nexis) 11 Apr. m6 Drag the nail between the patio stones and this will root up weeds and moss without bending and pulling. 3. With out. a. To pull or dig out by the roots. Chiefly figurative and in figurative contexts: to remove, eradicate, destroy. Cf. outroot v., rout v.10 2. the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > remove or take away > forcibly tear off or away a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 248 Vnnethe þornes beth..y-rooted out of þe grounde withoute hook..or som oþer egge tool. 1535 Amos ii. A I will rote out the iudge from amonge them. a1600 R. Lindsay (1899) I. 85 Mair, it had bene goode for the commone weill of Scottland that the earle..had bene rootted out of memorie. ?c1615 (1830) 148 Thinkis to rutt thame out of Annerdeill. 1667 J. Milton vi. 855 He meant Not to destroy, but root them out of Heav'n. View more context for this quotation 1729 W. Law xi. 164 He that is endeavouring to..root out of his mind all those passions of pride. 1744 J. Swift On Mutual Subjection in 14 This would root out Envy and Malice from the Heart of Man. 1766 6 15 I think the burnet so unvaluable, as to design to root it out of my ground. 1824 R. Finlayson 65 Invested with power..to root out certain noxious weeds from the garden. 1864 C. J. Lever 1st Ser. 91 ‘Never imagine’, said a wise prelate, ‘that you will root Popery out of England till you destroy Oxford.’ 1908 Dec. 730/1 The animus in this fight against you is the determination to root out unionism from every department of industry. 1962 S. Raven ii. vii. 85 To protect his legitimate interests he must root out Baron's Lodge from his life. 2001 5 Nov. 27/1 The United States is counting on the rebels to do the heavy lifting when it comes to rooting the Taliban out of northern Afghanistan. the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > do away with or eradicate the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > eradicate or extirpate > sin, fear, etc. the world > space > place > removal or displacement > extraction > extract [verb (transitive)] > root out or up a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 5 (MED) If men wolde yeue so gret diligence to rote oute [L. exstirpanda] vices & to plante virtues as þei do to meve questions, þere wolde not be so muche wickednes in þe peple. 1535 1 Kings xviii. 4 Whan Iesabel roted out ye prophetes of ye Lorde. a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. (1963) v. ii. 10 Thou..shalt roote out the tongues to lyeng bent. 1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden i. 163 Under a faire pretence & shew of rooting out superstition. 1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival i. i. xiv. 26 But neither Arms, nor Victories..[were] able to deracinate or root out this Doctine [sic]. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot ii. 23 So many Soldiers would be sent out against them, that they would be utterly rooted out. 1712 J. Addison No. 505. ¶5 It is the chief Business of this Paper to root out popular Errors. 1764 T. Reid iv. §2. 108 Is it not pity that the refinements of a civilized life, instead of supplying the defects of natural language, should root it out? 1782 F. Burney V. ix. ix. 181 Not all her unwillingness..could now root out her suspicions. 1849 84 It was his glory to retire and watch the progress of his plants, root out the weeds, [etc.]. 1853 C. Kingsley II. xiv. 334 You may root out your own human natures if you will. 1879 J. A. Froude xvii. 288 The punishment fell on his tribe. The Eburones were completely rooted out. 1922 Jan. 91 All the schemes..are but recipes for rooting out individualism. 1957 Jan. 173 Clearing farmland in Florida consists largely of rooting out palmetto. 2003 June 70/3 We move from one country to the next, rooting out this so-called Axis of Evil, and I grow more frightened for humanity. the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > be non-existent [verb (intransitive)] > end or cease to exist > of a family or race 1827 P. Cunningham II. xx. 14 Supposing..that their descendants gradually rooted out or became blended with the aborigines. 1844 E. B. Barrett Drama of Exile in I. 80 Root out thine eyes, sweet, from the dreary ground. 4. the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > clear out or away a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 254 Vitulamen..schal be pulled, y-rased, and y-roted away lest it lette the growynge of fruyte of þe vyne. a1542 T. Wyatt Psalm xxxvii. 64 in (1969) Who bannythe hym shall be rooted awaye. 1567 (1897) 97 Quha..dois blaspheme the kynde and liberall, Sall rutit be furth of memoriall. 1570 in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. xiii. 21 Rutit furth clene out of memorie. 1611 T. Coryate sig. E3 It behooued him rather to haue rooted away the abuse..then to abolish both the vse and the abuse cleane together. 1641 in W. Fraser (1873) II. 138 We wilbe alse qwyte ruited furthe of this kingdome. 1737 J. Addison (ed. 3) 37 Believe it sent from Heaven to reconcile Our Jarrs, and root away the Seeds of Hate. 1787 E. de Harold 61 It..roots away the lofty groves and oaks. c1822 in A. Bond (1828) vii. 173 I dare..foretel..that, at no very distant period in Persia, will the abominable no-religion of that odious and satanical Impostor, Mahommed, be rooted forth. 1871 J. Tyndall (1879) I. ix. 296 A glacier is undoubtedly competent to root such masses bodily away. 1904 W. V. Moody iii. 102 For the nations to be born, Root away the bitter thorn, Reap and sow the golden corn. the world > space > place > removal or displacement > extraction > extract [verb (transitive)] > root out or up ?1550 R. Weaver sig. B.ii I haue done the best that I can..To rote it clene from the heart of man. 1567 (1897) 104 Thay sall us rute from the ground. 1624 F. Quarles iv. 21 To see thy brother's seede Ruin'd and rent, and rooted from the earth. 1641 T. Heywood xxxi. 310 Blunting the horns of all the Bashan Buls, And rooting from the Land the razord skuls. 1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace i. iii. 106 Since we never from the breast of fools Can root their passions. 1795 T. Northmore xxvi. 126 The great principle among the Makarians is..to stop the progress of wars and slaughter, and root them from the face of the earth. 1805 R. Southey ii. xvi. 343 Bear away These wretches!..And root them from the earth. 1859 Sept. 270/1 Too much pains cannot be taken to root them [sc. yellow docks] from the soil, both by digging and pulling. 1888 J. Hunter-Duvar v. i. 141 No force that ever could be stowed in ships Could root them from the woods they know so well. 1921 J. Buchan (new ed.) iii. 55 There are but two ways to deal with Israelites—root them from the face of the earth or make them partners with you. 1994 S. Dawson (1996) i. xv. 126 June set about removing all traces of the painter from her studio, with the ardor of a new verger rooting weeds from a graveyard. the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > do away with or eradicate 1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil ii. 40 Yf you father also Youre self too murther, too roote youre progenye purpose [L. perituraeque addere Troiae teque tuosque iuvat]. 1629 J. Gaule 203 We cannot root them, we must restraine them. 1783 J. Hoole tr. L. Ariosto III. xxiv. 346 The trees, and cave he view'd; Those lopt and rooted, this in fragments hew'd. the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [verb (transitive)] > trees: prune or lop > root-prune 1817 W. Pitt 88 A considerable lot of Swedish were..topped and rooted, and laid along a dry ditch. 1841 J. Walker in 85 The turnips either shawed and rooted, and carried home to the feeding stock and cows, or ate off by sheep. 1844 H. Stephens II. 19 A field of 25 acres of excellent Swedes was pulled, rooted, and topped. 1985 (Commonw. Sci. Council) iii. 13 Carrots, other root vegetables, and onions are topped and rooted. II. To put down roots and related senses. 6. the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > initiate [verb (intransitive)] > be or become established the world > space > place > position or situation > be positioned or situated [verb (intransitive)] > take up position > firmly or with sure foothold the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > act habitually [verb (intransitive)] > be inveterate (of a person) > of a habit a1382 (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xxiv. 16 So in Sion I am fastned..And I rootede [v.r. hadde roote; a1425 L.V. rootid; L. radicavi] in a puple wrshipid. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland (Vernon) (1867) A. x. 78 (MED) Dowel..saueþ þe soule, þat sunne haþ no miht..ne to Reste, ne to Rooten in þe herte. a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xv. §2. 52 Thai haf festid thaire hope in the land of heuen, and rotid in luf. 1526 W. Bonde iii. sig. RR So that the grace of god and his vertues, may rote in our soules. 1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin (lxxiv. 22) That comon errour of theirs, wherein they rooted, is quite dasshed. a1614 W. Cope Apol. R. Cecil in J. Gutch (1781) I. 121 True honour will ever root, where false glories fade like flowers. 1688 J. Crowne iv. 48 Oh! thou art rooting deeper in my heart, Tear thy self from me. 1740 W. Somervile i. 77 What Love can decay That roots so deep! 1753 S. Foote ii. 37 Now I'll redeem my Error, and root for ever here. 1824 W. Huggins 236 In like manner it [sc. saltpetre] roots in the system, and resists the power of medicines. 1869 A. Maclaren 2nd Ser. vii. 113 The small continuous vices, which root under ground and honeycomb the soul. 1930 M. L. Davis xi. 105 Their minds were solemn-set to root here and make the place a pledge of faith to all the past. 2003 L. E. Myers & R. Sharpless v. 156 ‘If we're going to get new persons really to root there other than just family members being born in,’ she emphasized, ‘we're really going to have to go to an every-Sunday situation’. the world > plants > part of plant > root > plant defined by roots > have root [verb (intransitive)] > take root a1425 (Stonyhurst) f. 55 Radico, to rote. (Harl. 221) 437 Rotyn, or take rote, as treys and herbys, radico. a1500 in F. J. Furnivall (1903) 246 Lord! sende me sum ‘amor’ sede, In my gardyn to rote and ryse. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach i. f. 30 The fyrst dooth roote all in length lyke the Radishe. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. ii. 46 Her fallow Leas, The Darnell, Hemlock, and ranke Femetary, Doth root vpon. View more context for this quotation 1673 R. Allestree i. v. §28 A tender plant, that will scarce root in stiff or rocky ground. 1712 J. Mortimer xiii. i. 78 They root very deep, therefore plant your slips pretty deep. 1763 J. Mills IV. 152 That no crop will thrive well.., unless the ground be trenched deeper than the thyme rooted. 1801 Jan. 104 The potatoes continued to root well. 1846 J. Baxter (ed. 4) I. 315 There are several varieties of the Amaryllis that do not root so freely as others. 1885 2 May 575/2 Immediately the cuttings have rooted they should be turned out upon the open bottom-heat. 1902 E. S. Goff iv. 161 The currants may also be readily propagated by layering the branches, which will root the first season if covered in spring or early summer. 1966 3 Sept. 12/5 Sometimes I fear bulbs which have rooted well out in the open suffer when they are brought indoors. 2004 (Lee Valley Tools, Canada) 20 A perfect way to start cuttings such as coleus, English ivy, impatiens, philodendron, pothos, etc., that will root in water. the world > existence and causation > causation > basis or foundation > be based [verb (intransitive)] 1882 Apr. 181 These local divisions..root in the military institutions of the ancient Teutons. 1941 25 Nov. 14/3 The trouble into which he intervened roots in a controversy over whether welding is a separate ‘art’ or not. 1955 E. Pound lxxxix. 56 The Civil War rooted in tariff. 2001 R. Cornell i. 39 The problem roots in the vast technological, structural and behavioural changes sweeping through the OECD area's workplaces. 7. the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > initiating or founding [verb (reflexive)] > establish oneself the world > space > place > position or situation > take up position [verb (reflexive)] > firmly the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > place or put in a position [verb (transitive)] > fix or establish in position c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. iii. 55 (MED) Al þe riche retynaunce þat roteþ [v.r. rotede] hem on fals lyuynge Were bede to þat brudale. c1425 (c1400) (Cambr.) (1895) 27 (MED) Y haue rotid me in a worschipful puple. 1535 Ecclus. xxiv. 8 Let thy dwellinge be in Iacob,..& rote thy self amonge my chosen. 1647 H. Parker sig. A 2v That lawyer..ought to roote himself deeper, before he begins to build up his argument. 1655 J. Howell xix. 47 The Romans quickly diffus'd, and rooted themselves in evry part therof, and so co-planted their Language. 1799 M. G. Lewis tr. A. von Kotzebue 102 v. vi. His eyes root themselves in horror on my ghastly ensign. 1810 W. Scott ii. 70 Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow. 1856 J. A. Froude (1858) I. i. 10 One of many of the rising merchants who were now able to root themselves on the land. 1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato I. 180 Forms which have rooted themselves in language. 1927 E. Thompson xiv. 111 A colony of water hyacinth had rooted itself..where deep water still remained. 1974 W. Condry xi. 115 Its flower has 5–9 white petals, very dainty foliage and often roots itself very lightly in leaf mould rather than in proper soil. 1992 M. Urban iii. 30 Using military terminology to describe its units was part of the Provisionals' attempt to root themselves in the tradition of insurrectionary republicanism. the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > initiate [verb (transitive)] > found or establish a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich xli. 361 (MED) In þis lond that lawe Roten welen we. a1500 (1870) 226 For it fosteris and rutis tham in thar vice. a1525 A. Cadiou tr. A. Chartier Porteous Noblenes in W. A. Craigie (1923) I. 172 Herfore he that will be ane werray noble, stable & rute in his hert thir xij wertuis and excers thaim daly. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie (1888) I. 210 To festne and to rute it into the hartes of wandireris by the way. 1609 W. Shakespeare cxlii. sig. I2v Roote pittie in thy heart. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. iv. 160 Lest the base earth Should..Disdaine to roote the Sommer-swelling flowre. View more context for this quotation 1647 H. Hammond vii. 137 This course being thus taken for the planting, and rooting all good resolutions. 1691 J. Dryden iv. i. 39 Amazement roots me to the Ground! 1725 A. Pope tr. Homer III. xiii. 189 The God arrests her with a sudden stroke, And roots her down, an everlasting rock. 1769 Nov. 248 There is one nation in Europe where liberty has firmly fixed her standard, and rooted it in the very earth. 1816 W. Scott Old Mortality ix, in 1st Ser. IV. 184 All Jenny's efforts to remove him from the garden served only to root him in it. 1841 E. Bulwer-Lytton i. i Our poor Caleb had for years rooted his thoughts to his village. 1889 Jan. 33 To root them in that soil is to bury them in a bog—a bog physical, a bog mental, and a bog moral. 1934 J. B. Priestley vii What roots them there, I suspect, is their work. 1962 S. Wynter xv. 189 He now held in his grasp the paper which was to root Hebron firmly in reality. 1998 A. Sturgeon 188/2 Take cuttings from tired old lavender, root it straight into the ground in September and bin the parent. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > propagate [verb (transitive)] > take cuttings from > cuttings: root 1824 J. C. Loudon (ed. 2) ii. iv. 400 All plants which are difficult to root..will be found in the first instance..to throw out roots only, from the ring of herbaceous matter. 1884 D. T. Fish I. 212/1 One strong argument in favour of rooting roses at that season [sc. spring] consists in the fact that they have all the summer before them to grow into plants. 1925 W. Watson VI. 82/1 We root a Cactus by drying it in the sun. 1969 P. Thrower iii. 45/1 Cuttings which have been rooted under mist, or in a heated propagator, must be hardened off..before planting them in the open ground. 2000 H. E. Reiley & C. L. Shry (ed. 6) vii. 84 Plants that are more difficult to root, such as evergreens, may be tried as an additional activity. III. Uses in computing. 2009 www.networkworld.com 16 June (O.E.D. Archive) A YouTube video shows a Pre being rooted in less than 40 seconds once everything is in place. 2013 (Nexis) 5 Feb. There was no fancy hackery required to essentially ‘root’ Chrome OS and do whatever you wanted to the operating system. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). rootv.2Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: wroot v. Etymology: Variant of wroot v. (compare W n.), reinforced by folk-etymological association with root v.1 Compare rout v.9, and also wort v., wrout v.The origin of sense 4 is uncertain. It has been suggested that it may be a transferred use of the sense ‘to dig’, ‘to turn up the ground’, perhaps ‘with the imagery of stamping so hard that one is visualized as digging a hole’ (see G. Cohen Stud. in Slang (1989) II. 67–8). A connection with rout v.4 has also been suggested, but is unlikely on phonological grounds (although compare rout v.9) and also perhaps also on semantic grounds, since some early examples emphasize stamping and clapping rather than cheering. 1. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [verb (intransitive)] > root about 1516 (Pynson) f. lxxxvii By an Aungell he was shewyd that he shuld fynde a certayne thyng there as a hogge Roted. a1552 J. Leland (1711) III. 7 If a Man do but cast corn wher Hogges have rotid it wyl cum up. 1607 E. Topsell 668 [Swine will] rise in flesh..the sooner if they bee permitted to roote now and then in the mire. 1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto xlix. 190 Wild Boars, that were rooting in the earth near to a pond. 1730 J. Swift 13 A Sooterkin; Which..in the Soil began to root, And litter'd at Parnassus' Foot. 1770 L. Carter 13 Apr. (1965) I. 388 Dolman has spent several days in repairing the V fence but hogs can always root under. 1809 745 Whilst others were thus rooting for preferment, Mr. Paley was engaged in the composition of an important work. 1850 11 ii. 599 Store-pigs..may be allowed to root in fallows or on the dung-heap. 1871 L. Stephen iv. 185 The Alpine pig..roots contentedly round the châlets. 1927 J. Rodker Poems & Adolphe 1920 in Spring 81 While he gapes the jungle walks in his clearing, palms wave in his thatch, pigs root in his plantations. 1942 E. Langley ii. x. 132 Seeing black pigs rooting on a naked hill with but one broken tree on its top. 2007 I. McDonald 227 Striped peccaries rooted in the foot-puddled morass. the world > animals > by habits or actions > habits and actions > [verb (transitive)] > grub or root about in the earth ?1544 J. Bale f. 14v Ye are those wilde swyne, lewde shepardes, and foxes which hath roted vp the lordes vyne yearde. 1593 W. Shakespeare sig. Eij He..hauing thee at vantage..Wold roote these beauties, as he root's the mead. View more context for this quotation 1602 in G. Donaldson (1954) 5 Elspett Kennedies swyne is fund to have ruittit Earik Stephynsonis rig with mony ruittingis. 1701 J. Ray (ed. 3) i. 155 He is provided with a long and strong Snout..conveniently formed for the rooting and turning up the Ground. 1717 A. Pope tr. Homer III. xii. 166 On ev'ry side..they..root the Shrubs, and lay the Forest bare. 1769 T. Pennant (new ed.) III. 52 Porpesses..often descend to the bottom in search of sand eels, and sea worms, which they root out of the sand with their noses. 1802 20 64 Lonely watch'd he the grunters all day, As they rooted the stubbles for shack. 1858 Oct. 223 By rooting the ground over and over, [the hogs] put it in complete order for producing a succeeding crop. 1876 1 Apr. 54/1 The animals are so well trained that, when they have rooted out the truffle, they never touch it. 1910 30 Apr. 302 They never saw the badger rooting truffles in the glade! 1955 M. M. Innes tr. Ovid xv. 338 It rooted out seeds with its turned-up snout. 2005 J. Diamond (2006) ix. 292 Their ancestors had made that decision because pigs raided and rooted up gardens. 1653 I. Walton xi. 196 The Barbell..loves to live..where it is gravelly, and in the gravel will root and dig with his nose like a Hog. View more context for this quotation 1745 J. Swift Dick, a Maggot in X. 227 As when from rooting in a Bin,..A lively Maggot sallies out. 1883 2 154/1 Many fishes..have the habit of rooting in the mud for their food. 1890 13 Sept. 330/1 Disturbing the morning meal of the crows rooting in the litter-heaps. 1917 F. A. Leach x. 169 The carp..goes rooting around the bottoms and mud of the margins, keeping the water in a constant state of disturbance. 2008 12 Oct. 74/3 Pangasius rooted around in..‘decaying organic matter’, to obtain their fodder. 1608 Earl of Nottingham Let. 1 June in A. J. Kempe (1836) 364 The Kinges Matye..is heavely displeased att the spoyle that swinne have made by rootinge great hools in the woods and fforest. 1828 J. Banim III. x. 243 During this dialogue, several of the peasants rooted holes in the damp turfen floor, filled them with potatoes and straw alternately,..and dinner was soon cooked. 1854 15 i. 21 They enforced penalties for letting hogs root holes in embankments. 1902 44 121 Pigs are..beneficial in an orchard, after the trees are seven years old, provided they are rung to keep them from rooting holes. 1999 C. C. Waldrup x. 90 The colony was an odorous, filthy place, where hogs roamed freely in the streets and rooted holes in them. 3. figurative. the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. ii. 50 Alcibiades.., Who like a Bore too sauage, doth root vp His Countries peace. View more context for this quotation 1624 G. Markham 23 The wilde and sturdy Irish rebels..began to rage like wilde Boares, and to root vp euery fruitfull place in that Kingdome. 1866 12 Jan. 5/5 There is a reason for everything,..if we will only strive to root and think it out. 1894 H. Caine v. v From underneath the sofa in the parlour he rooted up a brown paper parcel. 1897 20 Nov. 155/1 A thin, ancient-looking octavo,..rooted up with other literary truffles. 1913 June 215/1 From a confusion of socks and shirts he rooted out a small tin box. 1941 E. Abbott tr. L. Feuchtwanger 241 Herr Wolf and I had rooted up a bottle of especially fine wine through the good offices of our supply man. 2003 P. Scanlan (2004) 338 He..rooted out a clean shirt and buttoned it up. the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > make a search [verb (intransitive)] > poke about or grub 1831 S. Lover 1st Ser. 189 She run rootin' into every corner o' the room, lookin' for it. 1892 Mrs. H. Ward III. 363 She took him about with her, ‘rootin’, as she expressed it, after the hens and pigs. 1896 S. R. Crockett xxxvi There I was rooting and exploring. 1904 in V. 151/2 They like to rute about the house. 1920 R. Macaulay i. ii. 20 Watching Tane's..hand with its short square fingers rooting in the sand for shells. 1943 V. Palmer in 29 Charlie rooted about in the nose of the dinghy drawn up above the tide. 1977 C. Rocks 132 I rooted around till I found the kettle. 2004 S. Hall 46 Some were climbing on the blackened heap, others rooting through the rubble looking for treasure. 4. colloquial (originally U.S. slang). the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > support or encouragement > support or encourage [verb (intransitive)] the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > support or encouragement > support or encourage [verb (transitive)] 1889 7 June 11/4 All during the game Jim never blinked, and he rooted more energetically and with twice the freedom of a Yorkshire porker. 1895 J. S. Wood 152 We rooted hard, too, and did a lot of shouting and yelling. 1897 C. M. Flandrau 164 The fellows who had promised to vote for Wolcott..were beginning now to ‘root’ for him vigorously. 1922 S. Lewis v. 66 Zilla keeps rooting for a nice expensive vacation. 1943 July 201/3 The papers of Los Angeles crowed... They rooted and cheered. 1985 18 Oct. e15/1 I am not a Cardinals fan, in fact, I rooted against them. 2004 M. St. Amant (2005) xx. 160 How can anyone root for the Yankees and claim to have a human soul? the mind > will > motivation > motivate [verb (transitive)] > incite or instigate > urge on or incite > by encouragement 1937 27 Nov. 16/7 Coming here..with a legion of followers accompanying them to root them on. 1961 C. W. New 202 There were competitions between classes... Their respective monitors rooted them on. 1984 J. Heller ix. 231 You were probably rooting him on all the time, weren't you? 1999 G. Kissick (2000) xxvii. 244 ‘See you at the game, Dr K,’ said Duncan, who had somehow gotten behind him. ‘When is it?’ asked Felicia. ‘Sadday night. Come root us on.’ the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific thing > strike with specific thing [verb (intransitive)] > with the foot > kick the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific thing > strike with specific thing [verb (transitive)] > with the foot > kick 1890 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland II. 186/1 Root, to (schools and London), to give one a kick behind. 1902 J. C. Lincoln 106 I'll root you, and I'll boot you, and I'll twist you till you squeal. 1914 ‘I. Hay’ ii. 52 We rooted Sowerby afterwards for grinning. 1946 B. Marshall xxxvii. 145 Rooting them [sc. new pupils] up the backside is the only way of dealing with them. 1974 D. Stuart xii. 120 A man oughta be rooted for being at the same fire with him. 1994 (Nexis) 25 July 8 A nightmarish death being rooted up the erse by 16 stane o' living langoustine heading southwards at 130 miles an hour. 6. the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity [verb (intransitive)] > have sexual intercourse the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity with [verb (transitive)] > have sexual intercourse with > specifically of a man 1922 [implied in: J. Joyce iii. 719 All the poking and rooting and ploughing he had up in me. (at rooting n.2 3)]. 1958 R. M. Stuart in R. Chamberlain (1973) ii. 12 I took her bathers off. Then I raped her. She was hard to root. 1966 P. White 185 We'll root together so good you'll shoot out the other side of Christmas. 1981 P. Radley 161 Brake..caught Duxie Tremayne jacking-off during a dance-break and was presently rooting him under the building. 1993 M. Gee (1994) 4 A Seddon Tech boy rooted his sheila and they both had their pants pulled up and were sitting as though nothing had happened by the time the train came out the other end. the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat > defeat completely or do for 1944 J. Hetherington 28 ‘Listen,’ the dying man said, ‘I'm rooted.’ 1951 D. Stivens 244 ‘It looks as though we're rooted, smacker,’ I told Herb. 1973 15 Nov. 3/1 Mr. Whitlam later admitted having said in an aside: ‘It is what he put in his guts that rooted him.’ 2000 (Nexis) 28 Aug. 27 To be honest, I was rooted at half-time, and to be replaced was the best thing for the team. Phrasesthe world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > [phrase] > implying the necessity of exertion 1828 18 Dec. 2/2 A quizzical youth of diminutive size..threw himself on his hands and feet, and rushed through the legs of his comrades exclaiming ‘root, little hog, or die’. 1834 D. Crockett viii. 60 We therefore determined to go on the old saying, root hog or die. 1857 ‘Dow, Jr.’ III. 195 Obliged to go upon the root-hog-or-die principle. 1879 A. W. Tourgée xxv. 150 The ‘root-hog-or-die’ policy. 1904 20 Aug. 4 ‘The school and college’, explained plains President Eliot, ‘cannot use the method of Nature—root, hog, or die.’ 1931 J. T. Adams i. 37 At the beginning of most settlements it was ‘root, hog, or die’ for all. 1976 9 June 41/6 Many of that generation, however, no longer put up with that root-hog-or-die kind of motivation. 2000 S. Dallas 209 We have to protect what we get, even from our friends, for a hungry soldier will steal anything. So it is root hog or die. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.1OE n.21846 v.1?c1335v.21516 |
