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

Dutch: wortel, worteltje
Polish: korzeń

The place where something begins, where it springs into being:
— Communism's Russian root.

synonyms: beginning, origin, rootage, source.

Roget 153: cause, origin, source, principle, element; occasioner^†, prime mover, primum mobile [Lat.]; vera causa [Lat.]; author etc. (producer) 164; mainspring; agent; leaven; groundwork, foundation etc. (support) 215.    spring, fountain, well, font; fountainhead, spring head, wellhead; fons et origo [Lat.], genesis; descent etc. (paternity) 166; remote cause; influence.    pivot, hinge, turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum; key; proximate cause, causa causans [Lat.]; straw that breaks the camel's back.    ground; reason, reason why; why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation; final cause etc. (intention) 620; les dessous des cartes [Fr.]; undercurrents.    rudiment.    egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule^†, radicle, semen, sperm.    nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed.    causality, causation; origination; production etc. 161.    ... show more

Dutch: bron, begin, kiem, oerbron, oorsprong, origine, wortel
Polish: początek

linguistics The form of a word after all affixes are removed.

synonyms: base, radical, root word, stem, theme.

Roget 211: base, basement; plinth, dado, wainscot; baseboard, mopboard^†; bedrock, hardpan [U.S.]; foundation etc. (support) 215; substructure, substratum, ground, earth, pavement, floor, paving, flag, carped, ground floor, deck; footing, ground work, basis; hold, bilge.    bottom, nadir, foot, sole, toe, hoof, keel, root; centerboard.    ... show more

Roget 84: number, symbol, numeral, figure, cipher, digit, integer; counter; round number; formula; function; series.    sum, difference, complement, subtrahend; product; multiplicand, multiplier, multiplicator^†; coefficient, multiple; dividend, divisor, factor, quotient, submultiple [Math.]; fraction, rational number; surd, irrational number; transcendental number; mixed number, complex number, complex conjugate; numerator, denominator; decimal, circulating decimal, repetend; common measure, aliquot part; prime number, prime, relative prime, prime factor, prime pair; reciprocal; totient^†.    binary number, octal number, hexadecimal number [Comp.].    permutation, combination, variation; election.    ratio, proportion, comparison etc. 464; progression; arithmetical progression, geometrical progression, harmonical progression^†; percentage, permilage.    figurate numbers^†, pyramidal numbers, polygonal numbers.    power, root, exponent, index, logarithm, antilogarithm; modulus, base.    differential, integral, fluxion^†, fluent.    ... show more

Dutch: stam
Polish: morfem leksykalny, pierwiastek, rdzeń, pień

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

Dutch: radix, wortel, wortelgetal
Polish: pierwiastek

The set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation.

synonym: solution.

Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent).

synonyms: ancestor, antecedent, ascendant, ascendent.

Dutch: voorloper, voorouder, stamvader, voorvader, voorvaderen, voorzaat
Polish: antenat, ascendent, przodek, wstępny

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

synonym: etymon.

Roget 562: word, term, vocable; name etc. 564; phrase etc. 566; root, etymon; derivative; part of speech etc. (grammar) 567; ideophone^†.    dictionary, vocabulary, lexicon, glossary; index, concordance; thesaurus; gradus [Lat.], delectus [Lat.].    etymology, derivation; glossology^†, terminology orismology^†; paleology etc. (philology) 560^†.    lexicography; glossographer etc. (scholar) 492; lexicologist, verbarian^†.    ... show more

Dutch: basiswoord, etymon, grondwoord, stamwoord
Polish: źródłosłów, etymon

The embedded part of a bodily structure such as a tooth, nail, or hair.

Dutch: tandwortel
Polish: korzeń

Take root and begin to grow.

Dutch: aangaan, aanslaan, wortelen

Come into existence, originate.

Cheer for.

Plant by the roots.

Dig with the snout:
— The pig was rooting for truffles.

synonyms: rootle, rout.

Dutch: wroeten

Become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style.

synonyms: settle, settle down, steady down, take root.

Roget 184: place, situate, locate, localize, make a place for, put, lay, set, seat, station, lodge, quarter, post, install; house, stow; establish, fix, pin, root; graft; plant etc. (insert) 300; shelve, pitch, camp, lay down, deposit, reposit^†; cradle; moor, tether, picket; pack, tuck in; embed, imbed; vest, invest in.    billet on, quarter upon, saddle with; load, lade, freight; pocket, put up, bag.    inhabit etc. (be present) 186; domesticate, colonize; take root, strike root; anchor; cast anchor, come to an anchor; sit down, settle down; settle; take up one's abode, take up one's quarters; plant oneself, establish oneself, locate oneself; squat, perch, hive, se nicher [Fr.], bivouac, burrow, get a footing; encamp, pitch one's tent; put up at, put up one's horses at; keep house.    endenizen^†, naturalize, adopt.    put back, replace etc. (restore) 660.    ... show more

Dutch: aarden

Cause to take roots.