noun
Meaning 1
plural of root
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
roots
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.
-
/ɹuːts/
-
Midwestern-US: /ɹʊts/
-
US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
rhymes with -uːts
-
CMU ARPABET: R UW1 T S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Ancestry.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- I have both Irish and German roots.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Beginnings; origin.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Jazz has its roots in blues.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Grown-out hair, often of a grey or natural colour.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- I just coloured my hair and already my roots are showing.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- his roots in Texas go back a long way
- he went back to Sweden to search for his roots
- his music has African roots
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: condition
History
Etymology
No etymology was provided for this word.
Across languages
Translations
18 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- French: aïeux — ancestors
- Ingrian: juuret — ancestors
- Italian: antenati — ancestors
- Japanese: ルーツ (rūtsu) — ancestors
- Central Kurdish: باوباپیران (bawbapîran) — ancestors
- Polish: korzenie — ancestors
- Slovak: korene — ancestors
- French: sources — beginnings
- French: origines — beginnings
- Italian: origini — beginnings
- Italian: radici — beginnings
- Japanese: ルーツ (rūtsu) — beginnings
- Japanese: 起源 (kigen) — beginnings
- Central Kurdish: ناخ (nax) — beginnings
- Polish: korzenie — beginnings
- Polish: źródła — beginnings
- Slovak: korene — beginnings
- Polish: odrosty — grown-out hair
Real reading context