Phrase guide

root beer

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈɹuːt ˌbɪə/
  • US: /ˈɹut ˌbɪɹ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)

1

noun

Meaning 1

A beverage, most often a carbonated soft drink made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark, nutmeg, anise, and molasses, among other things.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A dark reddish-brown color, similar to the drink.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

carbonated drink containing extracts of roots and herbs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: soft drink

History

Etymology

The term is attested since before the lifetime of Charles Elmer Hires, but he is widely credited with popularizing it much further than it had previously been; his proprietary beverage was inspired by an earlier root tea, and he planned to sell it under that name, but he changed its name to broaden the sales appeal. For more, see Wikipedia at root beer § History.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: cervesa d'arrels — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Chinese Mandarin: 根汁汽水 (gēnzhī qìshuǐ) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Chinese Mandarin: 根啤 (gēnpí) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Chinese Mandarin: 沙士 (shāshì) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Esperanto: radikbiero — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Finnish: juuriolut — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • French: racinette — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • German: Root Beer — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • German: Wurzelbier — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Indonesian: rutbir — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Italian: birra di radice — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Japanese: ルートビア (rūtobia) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Korean: 루트비어 (ruteubieo) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Portuguese: root beer — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Portuguese: cerveja de raiz — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Portuguese: cerveja de raízes — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Russian: корнево́е пи́во (kornevóje pívo) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Russian: рутбир (rutbir) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Slovene: zeliščno pivo — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Spanish: cerveza de raíz — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Thai: รูตเบียร์ — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Turkish: kök birası — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Vietnamese: xá xị — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Yiddish: וואָרצלביר (vortslbir) — beverage with sarsaparilla root
  • Yiddish: רוטביר (rutbir) — beverage with sarsaparilla root