root.html - See: TAKE ROOT.

root.html - {v. phr.} To cheer for; applaud; support. * /During the Olympics one usually roots for the team of one's own country./

root.html - {adj.} 1. Having a limited amount of space for root growth. * /After seven or eight years day lilies become root-bound and will not bloom well unless they are divided./ 2. Liking the familiar place where you live and not wanting to go away from it; having a sentimental attachment to one place. * /Mr. Jones has lived in Connecticut all his life. He is too root-bound to consider moving to another state./

root.html - Ethnic origins seen as a basis for cultural consciousness and pride, especially among Blacks; often used attributively as though it were an adjective: expressing this cultural identity, ethnically authentic. Etymology: The word root has been used in the plural to mean 'one's social, cultural, or ethnic origins or background' since the twenties; the shift in meaning that has led to the word's association with (specifically Black) cultural heritage probably arose from the popularity of Black American author Alex Haley's family chronicle Roots (1976), based on research into his own family history and African origins, which won a special Pulitzer prize in 1977. History and Usage : This more specific sense of roots developed during the late seventies, perhaps as a direct result of the success of the Haley book. At about the same time it started to be used attributively, especially in roots reggae (a style of music originating in Jamaica which was designed to express Jamaican cultural identity) or roots music (sometimes meaning the same as roots reggae, but often applied more generally to any music which expresses the cultural identity of a particular ethnic group--ethnic music--or has the authentic sound associated with Black cultural origins). For the DJ, crossing over is more than simply a move from roots to respectability or even from black to white audiences. City Limits 16 Oct. 1986, p.
41 Biddy's will continue its prior booking policy--an eclectic blend of oldies acts, roots music, world beat and other styles. Chicago Tribune 25 Aug. 1989, section 7, p. 8

root.html - adjective (Music) (Youth Culture) (Of music) down-to-earth; in a rudimentary, uncommercialized style which allows traditional or ethnic roots to show through. Etymology: Formed by adding the adjectival suffix -y to roots. History and Usage : Rootsy shares its early history with roots above, but developed a rather broader meaning during the eighties, moving outside the narrow context of Black or West Indian cultural awareness. Any music (or sometimes another area of culture) can be described as rootsy if it has an authentic feel, without the rough edges having been smoothed off by commercialism. I'm not here to put any new innovations on you...I'm still using things that are already there: the basic American rootsy sound with country and blues and so forth. Los Angeles Times 21 May 1986, section 6, p.
2 He went from the depth-charged super-funk of 'Head', straight into the buoyant and rootsy pop of 'When You Were Mine'. The Times 26 July 1988, p. 14

root.html - n. & v.
--n.

1 a the part of a plant normally below the ground, attaching it to the earth and conveying nourishment to it from the soil. b (in pl.) such a part divided into branches or fibres. c the corresponding organ of an epiphyte; the part attaching ivy to its support. d the permanent underground stock of a plant. e any small plant with a root for transplanting.
2 a any plant, e.g. a turnip or carrot, with an edible root. b such a root.
3 (in pl.) the sources of or reasons for one's long-standing emotional attachment to a place, community, etc.
4 a the embedded part of a bodily organ or structure, e.g. hair, tooth, nail, etc. b the part of a thing attaching it to a greater or more fundamental whole. c (in pl.) the base of a mountain etc.
5 a the basic cause, source, or origin (love of money is the root of all evil; has its roots in the distant past). b (attrib.) (of an idea etc.) from which the rest originated.
6 the basis of something, its means of continuance or growth (has its root(s) in selfishness; has no root in the nature of things).
7 the essential substance or nature of something (get to the root of things).
8 Math. a a number or quantity that when multiplied by itself a usu. specified number of times gives a specified number or quantity (the cube root of eight is two). b a square root. c a value of an unknown quantity satisfying a given equation.
9 Philol. any ultimate unanalysable element of language; a basis, not necessarily surviving as a word in itself, on which words are made by the addition of prefixes or suffixes or by other modification.
10 Mus. the fundamental note of a chord.
11 Bibl. a scion, an offshoot (there shall be a root of Jesse).
12 Austral. & NZ coarse sl. a an act of sexual intercourse. b a (female) sexual partner.

--v.

1 a intr. take root or grow roots. b tr. cause to do this (take care to root them firmly).
2 tr. a fix firmly; establish (fear rooted him to the spot). b (as rooted adj.) firmly established (her affection was deeply rooted; rooted objection to).
3 tr. (usu. foll. by out, up) drag or dig up by the roots.
4 tr. Austral. coarse sl. a have sexual intercourse with (a woman). b exhaust, frustrate.

pull up by the roots 1 uproot.
2 eradicate, destroy. put down roots 1 begin to draw nourishment from the soil.
2 become settled or established. root and branch thorough(ly), radical(ly). root beer US an effervescent drink made from an extract of roots. root-mean-square Math. the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of a set of values. root out find and get rid of. root sign Math. = radical sign. strike at the root (or roots) of set about destroying. strike (or take) root 1 begin to grow and draw nourishment from the soil.
2 become fixed or established.

rootage n. rootedness n. rootless adj. rootlet n. rootlike adj. rooty adj. [OE rot f. ON r×t, rel. to WORT & L radix: see RADIX]