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root

/ɹut/noun, verb

root is spelled R-O-O-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,558th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “root vs route” about 20 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, root means “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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of root is roots.

How many letters and syllables are in root?

Letters4: R-O-O-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing26 times per million words; the 3,558th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is root?

Root appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,558th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce root?

  • UK /ɹuːt/
  • British /ɹʉwt/
  • US /ɹut/

Root has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-root.wav, En-us-root.ogg, En-au-root.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with root

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

root vs route20 B

Sounds like: route, rute (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: root word.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with root?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as root from its last stressed vowel (/ut/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: toro, roto.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of root

  • roots plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • rooting participle, present
  • rooted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does root mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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.

    This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.

  2. 2

    A root vegetable.

  3. 3

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

    Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.

  4. 4

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

    The root is the only part of the hair that is alive.

  5. 5

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

    He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen.

  6. 6

    The primary source; origin.

    The love of money is the root of all evil.

  7. 7

    The section of a wing immediately adjacent to the fuselage.

  8. 8

    The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.

    The root diameter is the minor diameter of an external thread and the major diameter of an internal one.

  9. 9

    An act of rummaging or searching.

  10. 10

    AustraliaslangvulgarAn act of sexual intercourse.

    Fancy a root?

  11. 11

    AustraliaslangvulgarA sexual partner.

verb

  1. 1

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

    The cuttings are starting to root.

  2. 2

    To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.

    We rooted some cuttings last summer.

  3. 3

    To fix firmly; to establish.

  4. 4

    slangTo get root or privileged access on (a computer system or mobile phone), often through bypassing some security mechanism.

    We rooted his box and planted a virus on it.

  5. 5

    To turn up or dig with the snout.

    A pig roots the earth for truffles.

  6. 6

    To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.

  7. 7

    To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.

    rooting about in a junk-filled drawer

  8. 8

    Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.

  9. 9

    To root out; to abolish.

  10. 10

    To tug or pull at the reins aggressively by driving the head downwards while wearing a bit.

  11. 11

    AustraliaIrelandslangvulgarTo sexually penetrate.

  12. 12

    USTo cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.)

    I'm rooting for you, don't let me down!

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Root in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchracine (part of a plant), origine (primary source), fourrer, emmancher (coarse slang: to have sexual intercourse)
GermanWurzel, Wurzeln (part of a plant), Zahnwurzel (of a tooth), Haarwurzel (part of a hair under the skin), rooten (get root access), wühlen (to turn up or dig with the snout - as pigs)
Portugueseraiz (part of a plant), rootear (get root access), enraizar, arraigar, radicar (to grow roots), revolver (to rummage, root out)
Spanishraíz (part of a plant), raíces, raigón (of a tooth), raigar, arraigar, enraizar (to grow roots)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does root come from?

From Middle English rote, root, roote (“the underground part of a plant”), from late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót (“root”), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“root”), from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”); Doublet of wort, radish, and radix.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after root