roots

noun

ROOTS/ɹuːts/

4 meanings of roots

1
noun
Plural of root.
The old oak's roots cracked the sidewalk over the years.
Dentists sometimes treat infected roots inside a tooth.
Note
A regular plural, root plus -s, covering every countable use of the singular: the anchoring parts of a plant, root vegetables, and the hidden parts of teeth and hairs. Where root is used as a mass noun there is nothing to pluralize. Some meanings, such as family ancestry, are met almost only in the plural, and there roots behaves nearly like a word of its own.
2
noun
A person's ancestry: the family and culture they descend from.
After decades abroad, he finally returned to reconnect with his roots.
The festival celebrates the immigrant roots of the whole neighborhood.
Similarheritage, origins, ancestry, background, lineage
3
noun
The beginnings or origin from which something develops.
Jazz has its roots in the African American communities of the South.
Historians traced the movement's roots to a single pamphlet.
Similarorigins, beginnings, foundations, source
4
noun
Newly grown hair near the scalp, often gray or its natural color and different from the dyed lengths.
Her roots had come in dark beneath the bleached ends.
Touching up the roots every few weeks keeps the color looking even.
Similarregrowth
Note
A hair-color word that only makes sense after dyeing: roots are the new growth that betrays the old shade. The everyday verb is show. Roots are showing, or they need touching up. The word is plural even for one head of hair, so say my roots are showing, never my root is showing.
She had colored her hair a week ago, and already her roots were showing.
Wear a hat if your roots are showing.

roots is a form of root

root, noun: The part of a plant, usually underground, that anchors and supports it, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants can produce new growth. Full entry

Forms: rootroots plural
Spelling: root → roots: add -s
Sound: The ending sounds like /s/.

Practice

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