different between root vs tailhead

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ro?ot, IPA^(key): /?u?t/
• (Midwestern US) IPA^(key): /??t/
• Rhymes: -u?t, -?t
• Homophones: route (some pronunciations), rute

Etymology 1

From Middle English rote, root, roote (“the underground part of a plant”), from late Old English r?t, from Old Norse rót (Icelandic rót), from Proto-Germanic *wr?ts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh?ds (“root”); cognate with wort, radish, and radix.

Noun

root (countable and uncountable, plural roots)

2. 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.

   Hyponym: taproot

3. A root vegetable.

   • [...] two fields which should have been sown with roots in the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough.

4. The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.

5. The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.

6. The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.

7. (figuratively) The primary source; origin.

   Synonyms: basis, origin, source

   • , Book 1

     They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people.
8. (arithmetic) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.

   Hyponyms: cube root, functional root, square root

9. (arithmetic) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”).
   • 1899, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (transl.), The New Life (La Vita Nuova) of Dante Alighieri, Siddall edition, page 122.

     The number three is the root of the number nine; […] being multiplied merely by itself, it produceth nine, as we manifestly perceive that three times three are nine.

10. (mathematical analysis) A zero (of an equation).

    Synonym: zero

    Antonym: pole

    Holonym: kernel

11. (graph theory, computing) The single node of a tree that has no parent.
12. (linguistic morphology) The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Inflectional stems often derive from roots.

    Coordinate term: stem
13. (linguistics) A word from which another word or words are derived.

    Synonym: etymon

14. (music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Busby to this entry?)

15. The lowest place, position, or part.
    • 1812, Robert Southey, Omniana

      the roots of the mountains

16. (computing) 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; the person who manages accounts on a UNIX system.

    Synonyms: superuser, root account, root user

17. (computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.

18. (slang) A penis, especially the base of a penis.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

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

   • In deep grounds the weeds root the deeper.
2. To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings

3. To be firmly fixed; to be established.
   • 1823, Gilbert Burnet, The Life of Sir Matthew Hale, Knt., Sometime Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of King's-Bench

     If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misapprehensions, he gave them not leave to root and fasten by concealment.
4. (computing slang, transitive) To get root or privileged access on a computer system or mobile phone, often through bypassing some security mechanism.

   Synonym: (mobile phone) jailbreak

Etymology 2

From Middle English wr?ten (“to dig with the snout”), from Old English wr?tan, from Proto-Germanic *wr?tan? (“to dig out, to root”). Related to Old English wr?t (“snout; trunk”). Loss of initial w- probably due to influence from the related noun (Etymology 1).

Verb

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

2. (transitive, intransitive) To turn up or dig with the snout.
   • c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Again?t venemous tongues enpoy?oned with ?claunder and fal?e detractions &c.:

     Such tunges ?huld be torne out by the harde rootes,
     Hoyning like hogges that groynis and wrotes.

3. (by extension) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act I, scene 3:

     Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!

4. (intransitive) To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.

   Synonyms: dig out, root out, rummage

5. (transitive) To root out; to abolish.
   • The Lord rooted them out of their land [...] and cast them into another land.

6. (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, vulgar, slang) To have sexual intercourse.

   Synonyms: screw, bang, (US) drill, (British) shag; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

Usage notes

• The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense is somewhat milder than fuck but still quite coarse, and certainly not for polite conversation. The sexual sense will often be understood, unless care is taken with the context to make the rummage sense clear, or root through or root around is used. The past participle rooted is equivalent to fucked in the figurative sense of broken or tired, but rooting has only the direct verbal sense; it is not an all-purpose intensive like fucking.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

root (plural roots)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) An act of sexual intercourse.

   Synonyms: (UK, US) screw, (UK) shag; see also Thesaurus:copulation

2. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) A sexual partner.

   Synonym: (US) screw

Usage notes

• The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense of root is somewhat milder than fuck but still quite coarse, certainly not for polite conversation. The normal usage is to have a root or similar.

Translations

Etymology 3

Possibly an alteration of rout (“to make a loud noise”), influenced by hoot.

Verb

root (third-person singular simple present roots, present participle rooting, simple past and past participle rooted)

1. (intransitive, with "for" or "on", US) To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.) [late 19th century]

   Synonyms: (Australia, New Zealand) barrack, cheer on

   • 1908, Jack Norworth, Take Me Out to the Ball Game

     Let me root, root, root for the home team,

Translations

Anagrams

• Toor, Toro, roto, roto-, toro, troo

Chinese

Etymology

Borrowed from English root.

Verb

root

1. (computing slang) to root (an Android device) (to get root or privileged access)

   ????root????? [MSC, trad.]
   ????root????? [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè bù sh?uj? root hòu bù b?oxi?. [Pinyin]

   This mobile phone will not be guaranteed if it is rooted.

See also

• ????? (yuèyù, “to jailbreak”)

German Low German

Alternative forms

• raud
• rauth
• rod, rood
• rot, roth

Etymology

From Old Saxon r?d, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h?rowd?ós < *h?rewd?-. Compare Dutch rood, German rot, West Frisian read, English red, Danish rød.

Adjective

root (comparative röder, superlative röödst)

1. red

Declension

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch r?t, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h?rowd?ós, from the root *h?rewd?-.

Adjective

rôot

1. red

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: rood
  • Afrikaans: rooi
• Limburgish: roead

Further reading

• “root”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “root (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN, page I

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English r?t.

Noun

root

1. Alternative form of rote (“root”)

Etymology 2

Unknown.

Noun

root

1. Alternative form of rote (“habit”)

Etymology 3

A back-formation from roten (“to rot”).

Noun

root

1. Alternative form of rot

Plautdietsch

Adjective

root

1. red

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English root.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /??ut??/

Noun

root m (plural roots)

1. (computing) root (user with complete access to the operating system)

English

Etymology

tail +? head

Noun

tailhead (plural tailheads)

1. The root of the tail, where it joins the rump, in cattle.