What is "root"

Root \Root\, v. i. [Cf. Rout to roar.] To shout for, or otherwise noisly applaud or encourage, a contestant, as in sports; hence, to wish earnestly for the success of some one or the happening of some event, with the superstitious notion that this action may have efficacy; -- usually with for; as, the crowd rooted for the home team.

Root \Root\ (r[=oo]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rooted; p. pr. & vb. n. Rooting.]

1. To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.

   In deep grounds the weeds root deeper.
   --Mortimer.

2. To be firmly fixed; to be established.

   If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misappehensions, he gave them not leave to root and fasten by concealment.
   --Bp. Fell.

Root \Root\, v. t.

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

2. To tear up by the root; to eradicate; to extirpate; -- with up, out, or away. ``I will go root away the noisome weeds.''
   --Shak.

   The Lord rooted them out of their land . . . and cast them into another land.
   --Deut. xxix. 28.

Root \Root\, v. i. [AS. wr[=o]tan; akin to wr[=o]t a snout, trunk, D. wroeten to root, G. r["u]ssel snout, trunk, proboscis, Icel. r[=o]ta to root, and perhaps to L. rodere to gnaw (E. rodent) or to E. root, n.]

1. To turn up the earth with the snout, as swine.

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

Root \Root\, v. t. To turn up or to dig out with the snout; as, the swine roots the earth.

Root \Root\, n. [Icel. r[=o]t (for vr[=o]t); akin to E. wort, and perhaps to root to turn up the earth. See Wort.]

1. (Bot.)

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

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

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

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

   1. An ancestor or progenitor; and hence, an early race; a stem.

      They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people.
      --Locke.

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

   3. The cause or occasion by which anything is brought about; the source. ``She herself . . . is root of bounty.''
      --Chaucer.

      The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
      --1 Tim. vi. 10 (rev. Ver.)

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

   5. (Mus.) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
      --Busby.

   6. The lowest place, position, or part. ``Deep to the roots of hell.''
      --Milton. ``The roots of the mountains.''
      --Southey.

4. (Astrol.) The time which to reckon in making calculations. When a root is of a birth yknowe [known]. --Chaucer. A["e]rial roots. (Bot.)

   1. Small roots emitted from the stem of a plant in the open air, which, attaching themselves to the bark of trees, etc., serve to support the plant.

   2. Large roots growing from the stem, etc., which descend and establish themselves in the soil. See Illust. of Mangrove.

      Multiple primary root (Bot.), a name given to the numerous roots emitted from the radicle in many plants, as the squash.

      Primary root (Bot.), the central, first-formed, main root, from which the rootlets are given off.

      Root and branch, every part; wholly; completely; as, to destroy an error root and branch.

      Root-and-branch men, radical reformers; -- a designation applied to the English Independents (1641). See Citation under Radical, n., 2.

      Root barnacle (Zo["o]l.), one of the Rhizocephala.

      Root hair (Bot.), one of the slender, hairlike fibers found on the surface of fresh roots. They are prolongations of the superficial cells of the root into minute tubes.
      --Gray.

      Root leaf (Bot.), a radical leaf. See Radical, a., 3 (b) .

      Root louse (Zo["o]l.), any plant louse, or aphid, which lives on the roots of plants, as the Phylloxera of the grapevine. See Phylloxera.

      Root of an equation (Alg.), that value which, substituted for the unknown quantity in an equation, satisfies the equation.

      Root of a nail (Anat.), the part of a nail which is covered by the skin.

      Root of a tooth (Anat.), the part of a tooth contained in the socket and consisting of one or more fangs.

      Secondary roots (Bot.), roots emitted from any part of the plant above the radicle.

      To strike root, To take root, to send forth roots; to become fixed in the earth, etc., by a root; hence, in general, to become planted, fixed, or established; to increase and spread; as, an opinion takes root. ``The bended twigs take root.''
      --Milton.

"underground part of a plant," late Old English rot, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse rot "root," figuratively "cause, origin," from Proto-Germanic *wrot (cognates: Old English wyrt "root, herb, plant," Old High German wurz, German Wurz "a plant," Gothic waurts "a root," with characteristic Scandinavian loss of -w- before -r-), from PIE *wrad- (see radish (n.), and compare wort). The usual Old English words for "root" were wyrttruma and wyrtwala.\n

\nFigurative use is from c.1200. Of teeth, hair, etc., from early 13c. Mathematical sense is from 1550s. Philological sense from 1520s. Slang meaning "penis" is recorded from 1846. In U.S. black use, "a spell effected by magical properties of roots," 1935. To take root is from 1530s. Root beer, made from the extracts of various roots, first recorded 1841, American English; root doctor is from 1821. Root cap is from 1875.

"dig with the snout," 1530s, from Middle English wroten "dig with the snout," from Old English wrotan "to root up," from Proto-Germanic *wrot- (cognates: Old Norse rota, Swedish rota "to dig out, root," Middle Low German wroten, Middle Dutch wroeten, Old High German ruozian "to plow up"), from PIE root *wrod- "to root, gnaw."\n

\nAssociated with the verb sense of root (n.). Extended sense of "poke about, pry" first recorded 1831. Phrase root hog or die "work or fail" first attested 1834, American English (in works of Davey Crockett, who noted it as an "old saying"). Reduplicated form rootin' tootin' "noisy, rambunctious" is recorded from 1875.

"cheer, support," 1889, American English, originally in a baseball context, probably from root (v.1) via intermediate sense of "study, work hard" (1856). Related: Rooted; rooting.

"fix or firmly attach by roots" (often figurative), early 13c., from root (n.); sense of "pull up by the root" (now usually uproot) also is from late 14c. Related: Rooted; rooting.

Etymology 1 n. 1 The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction. 2 A root vegetable. 3 The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place. 4 The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place. 5 The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated. 6 The primary source; origin. 7 (context arithmetic English) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specify power, yields the specified number or expression. 8 (context arithmetic English) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”). 9 (context analysis English) A zero (of a function). 10 (context graph theory computing English) The single node of a tree that has no parent. 11 (context linguistic morphology English) The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. stem often derive from roots. 12 (context philology English) A word from which another word or words are derived. 13 (context music English) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed. 14 The lowest place, position, or part. 15 (context computing English) In UNIX terminology, the first user account with complete access to the operating system and its configuration, found at the root of the directory structure. 16 (context computing English) The person who manages accounts on a UNIX system. vb. 1 (context computing slang transitive English) To break into a computer system and obtain root access. 2 To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow. 3 To be firmly fixed; to be established. Etymology 2

n. 1 (context Australia New Zealand vulgar slang English) An act of sexual intercourse. 2 (context Australia New Zealand vulgar slang English) A sexual partner. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To turn up or dig with the snout. 2 (context by extension English) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn. 3 (context intransitive English) To rummage, to search as if by digging in soil. 4 (context transitive English) To root out; to abolish. 5 (context Australia New Zealand vulgar slang English) To have sexual intercourse. Etymology 3

vb. 1 (context intransitive with for US English) To cheer to show support for. (late 19th century) 2 (context transitive US English) To hope for the success of. Rendered as 'root for'.

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

2. (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem" [syn: root word, base, stem, theme, radical]

3. the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root" [syn: beginning, origin, rootage, source]

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

5. the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation [syn: solution]

6. someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent) [syn: ancestor, ascendant, ascendent, antecedent] [ant: descendant]

7. a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes [syn: etymon]

8. the part of a tooth that is embedded in the jaw and serves as support [syn: tooth root]

1. v. take root and begin to grow; "this plant roots quickly"

2. come into existence, originate; "The problem roots in her depression"

3. plant by the roots

4. dig with the snout; "the pig was rooting for truffles" [syn: rout, rootle]

5. take sides with; align oneself with; show strong sympathy for; "We all rooted for the home team"; "I'm pulling for the underdog"; "Are you siding with the defender of the title?" [syn: side, pull]

6. become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style; "He finally settled down" [syn: settle, take root, steady down, settle down]

7. cause to take roots

ROOT is an object-oriented program and library developed by CERN. It was originally designed for particle physics data analysis and contains several features specific to this field, but it is also used in other applications such as astronomy and data mining.

Root is a surname, and may refer to:

The Root mansion (氐宿, pinyin: Dī Xiù) is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the eastern mansions of the Azure Dragon.

Root are a Czech black metal band.

Root is a Japanese visual novel studio under the publishing company Orbit founded in 2000. Root's titles are eroge that contain erotic scenes. It was closed in March 2010 following the earthquake, along with the rest of Orbit brands.

A root is the part of a plant that is below ground.

Root or roots may also refer to:

A root, or a root word, is a word that does not have a prefix (in front of the word) or a suffix (at the end of a word). The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family (root is then called base word), which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Content words in nearly all languages contain, and may consist only of root morphemes. However, sometimes the term "root" is also used to describe the word minus its inflectional endings, but with its lexical endings in place. For example, chatters has the inflectional root or lemma chatter, but the lexical root chat. Inflectional roots are often called stems, and a root in the stricter sense may be thought of as a monomorphemic stem.

The traditional definition allows roots to be either free morphemes or bound morphemes. Root morphemes are essential for affixation and compounds. However, in polysynthetic languages with very high levels of inflectional morphology, the term "root" is generally synonymous with "free morpheme". Many such languages have a very restricted number of morphemes that can stand alone as a word: Yup'ik, for instance, has no more than two thousand.

The root of a word is unit of meaning (morpheme) and, as such, it is an abstraction, though it can usually be represented in writing as a word would be. For example, it can be said that the root of the English verb form running is run, or the root of the Spanish superlative adjective amplísimo is ampli-, since those words are clearly derived from the root forms by simple suffixes that do not alter the roots in any way. In particular, English has very little inflection and a tendency to have words that are identical to their roots. But more complicated inflection, as well as other processes, can obscure the root; for example, the root of mice is mouse (still a valid word), and the root of interrupt is, arguably, rupt, which is not a word in English and only appears in derivational forms (such as disrupt, corrupt, rupture, etc.). The root rupt is written as if it were a word, but it's not.

This distinction between the word as a unit of speech and the root as a unit of meaning is even more important in the case of languages where roots have many different forms when used in actual words, as is the case in Semitic languages. In these, roots are formed by consonants alone, and different words (belonging to different parts of speech) are derived from the same root by inserting vowels. For example, in Hebrew, the root gdl represents the idea of largeness, and from it we have gadol and gdola (masculine and feminine forms of the adjective "big"), gadal "he grew", higdil "he magnified" and magdelet "magnifier", along with many other words such as godel "size" and migdal "tower".

In music theory, the concept of root denotes the idea that a chord can be represented and named by one of its notes. It is linked to harmonic thinking, that is, to the idea that vertical aggregates of notes can form a single unit, a chord. It is in this sense that one can speak of a "C chord", or a "chord on C", a chord built from "C" and of which the note (or pitch) "C" is the root. When a C chord is referred to in Classical music or popular music without a reference to what type of chord it is (either Major or minor, in most cases), this chord is assumed to be a C major triad, which contains the notes C, E and G. The root needs not be the bass note, the lowest note of the chord: the concept of root is linked to that of the inversion of chords, which is derived from the notion of invertible counterpoint. In this concept, chords can be inverted while still retaining their root.

In tertian harmonic theory, that is in a theory where chords can be considered stacks of third intervals (e.g. in common practice tonality), the root of a chord is the note on which the subsequent thirds are stacked. For instance, the root of a triad such as C Major is C, independently of the vertical order in which the three notes (C, E and G) are presented. A triad can be in three possible positions, a "root position" with the root in the bass (i.e., with the root as the lowest note, thus C, E, G or C, G, E, from lowest to highest notes), a first inversion, e.g. E, G, C or E, G, C (i.e., with the note which is a third interval above the root, E, as the lowest note) and a second inversion, e.g. G, C, E or G, E, C, in which the note that is a fifth interval above the root (G ) is the lowest note.

Regardless of whether a chord is in root position or in an inversion, the root remains the same in all three cases. Four-note seventh chords have four possible positions. That is, the chord can be played with the root as the bass note, the note a third above the root as the bass note (first inversion), the note a fifth above the root as the bass note (second inversion), or the note a seventh above the root as the bass note (third inversion). Five-note ninth chords know five positions, etc., but the root position always is that of the stack of thirds, and the root is the lowest note of this stack (see also Factor (chord)).

Root was a multimedia project composed of 25 one-minute guitar pieces improvised by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. These samples were sent out to around 100 people - both visual artists as well as musicians - in Hoover bags to remix or create accompanying artwork for. The results were then released on CD, as a limited edition CD in a numbered hoover bag (of which only 2000 were created), as a 5 piece vinyl box set, and as an exhibition which featured work by Angela Bulloch, David Bowie, Gavin Turk and many others.

Though no track listing comes with the album, just a list of the track contributors, some titles have come out in interviews with those involved. These are listed below where applicable.