roots
part of speech
noun (roots, plural of root; root — a root); verb (roots, from root)
meaning for a pupil
1) Roots are the parts of a plant that grow under the ground; they hold the plant in place and take in water and minerals. tree →
2) The roots of a tooth or hair are the parts that hold it in the body. tree →
3) Your roots are the place and family you come from. tree →
4) The roots of a problem are where it starts. tree →
5) In maths, a root of a number, like the square root, is a number that multiplies by itself to give that number. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It means plant roots, and in the Hebrew texts, three-letter word roots that carry the main meaning. Interpretation: Students of Hebrew and of Sefer Yetzirah trace meaning back to roots, and mystics speak of the "roots" of things in the divine world. In the primary lessons: In science roots anchor plants and take up water; carrots and potatoes are roots or underground parts we eat; tree roots can crack pavements. In everyday life, people say they have Irish or Greek roots (family history). In English lessons, a root word is the main part of a word before prefixes and suffixes are added (happy is the root of unhappiness). In maths the square root of 9 is 3 because 3 × 3 = 9.
examples
- Hebrew has of course several verb roots relating to one or more of each of these three facets of language. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
- It derives from the root נפ״שׁ NPSh, having to do with breathing, refreshing, and resting; its etymological relationships with curiously similar roots like נשׁ״ם NShM ‘to breathe, pant’, נשׁ״ף NShP ‘to blow’, and נשׁ״ב NShB ‘to blow’ are unclear. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
- The Third Path is the Sanctifying Intelligence, and is the basis of foundation of Primordial Wisdom, which is called the Former of faith, and its roots, Amen; and it is the parent of Faith, from which virtues doth Faith emanate. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887) tree →
- His roots shall dry up beneath, and above shall his branch wither. (Writings JOB.18.16, JPS 1917) tree →
- His roots are wrapped about the heap, he beholdeth the place of stones. (Writings JOB.8.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- They pluck salt-wort with wormwood; and the roots of the broom are their food. (Writings JOB.30.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- The roots take in water from the soil. tree →
- Tree roots lifted up the pavement. tree →
- Carrots are roots that we eat. tree →
- My family has roots in Scotland. tree →
- «Kind» is the root word of «kindness». tree →
- The square root of 16 is 4. tree →
- The dentist said the tooth's root was healthy. tree →
- We need to find the roots of the problem. tree →
- Meet here beneath this ash-tree's roots. tree →
note
Singular «root», plural «roots». «Take root» = start to grow. Homophone: «route» (a way to travel) is often said «root» in the UK. In maths the square root sign is √; √25 = 5. Not all things underground are roots: a potato is a tuber (a swollen stem).
In the corpora
- And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a twig shall grow forth out of his roots.
- I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
- His roots are wrapped about the heap, he beholdeth the place of stones.
- His roots shall dry up beneath, and above shall his branch wither.
- He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «roots» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.