To take root

To take root
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.) (a) 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. (b) 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. [1913 Webster]

2. An edible or esculent root, especially of such plants as produce a single root, as the beet, carrot, etc.; as, the root crop. [1913 Webster]

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: (a) An ancestor or progenitor; and hence, an early race; a stem. [1913 Webster]

They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people. --Locke. [1913 Webster] (b) 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. (c) The cause or occasion by which anything is brought about; the source. ``She herself . . . is root of bounty.'' --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. --1 Tim. vi. 10 (rev. Ver.) [1913 Webster] (d) (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. (e) (Mus.) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed. --Busby. [1913 Webster] (f) The lowest place, position, or part. ``Deep to the roots of hell.'' --Milton. ``The roots of the mountains.'' --Southey. [1913 Webster]

4. (Astrol.) The time which to reckon in making calculations. [1913 Webster]

When a root is of a birth yknowe [known]. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

{A["e]rial roots}. (Bot.) (a) 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. (b) 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. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • take root — {v. phr.} 1. To form roots so as to be able to live and grow. * /We hope the transplanted apple trees will take root./ 2. To be accepted; to be adopted; to live and succeed in a new place. * /Many European customs failed to take root in the New… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • take root — {v. phr.} 1. To form roots so as to be able to live and grow. * /We hope the transplanted apple trees will take root./ 2. To be accepted; to be adopted; to live and succeed in a new place. * /Many European customs failed to take root in the New… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Take Root — Take Root, a non profit organization funded by the US Department of Justice, [ [http://www.takeroot.org/home.php Take Root official web site home page] See note in lower left hand corner of home page; retrieved October 19, 2007] [… …   Wikipedia

  • take root — If something like an idea or system takes root, it becomes established, accepted or believed …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • take root — ► take root become fixed or established. Main Entry: ↑root …   English terms dictionary

  • take\ root — v. phr. 1. To form roots so as to be able to live and grow. We hope the transplanted apple trees will take root. 2. To be accepted; to be adopted; to live and succeed in a new place. Many European customs failed to take root in the New World. The …   Словарь американских идиом

  • take root — 1) leave the plants to take root Syn: germinate, sprout, establish, strike, take 2) Christianity took root in Persia Syn: become established, take hold; develop, thrive, flourish …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • take root — verb a) To grow roots into soil. Those tulip bulbs have taken root. b) To become established, to take hold. The new regulations have yet to take root …   Wiktionary

  • take root — 1) if a plant takes root, it begins to grow somewhere 2) if an idea, belief, or system takes root, it becomes established and accepted Compromise is essential if peace is to take root in this troubled area …   English dictionary

  • take root — if an idea, belief, or system takes root somewhere, it starts to be accepted or established there. Democracy is now struggling to take root in most of these countries …   New idioms dictionary

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