HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
n. 1. a. The usually underground portion of a plant that lacks buds, leaves, or nodes and serves as support, draws minerals and water from the surrounding soil, and sometimes stores food. b. Any of various other underground plant parts, especially an underground stem such as a rhizome, corm, or tuber. 2. a. The embedded part of an organ or structure such as a hair, tooth, or nerve, that serves as a base or support. b. The bottom or supporting part of something: We snipped the wires at the roots. 3. The essential part or element; the basic core: I finally got to the root of the problem. 4. A primary source; an origin. See Synonyms at origin. 5. A progenitor or ancestor from which a person or family is descended. 6. a. often roots The condition of being settled and of belonging to a particular place or society: Our roots in this town go back a long way. b. roots The state of having or establishing an indigenous relationship with or a personal affinity for a particular culture, society, or environment: music with unmistakable African roots. 7. Linguistics a. The element that carries the main component of meaning in a word and provides the basis from which a word is derived by adding affixes or inflectional endings or by phonetic change. b. Such an element reconstructed for a protolanguage. Also called radical. 8. Mathematics a. A number that when multiplied by itself an indicated number of times forms a product equal to a specified number. For example, a fourth root of 4 is √2. Also called nth root. b. A number that reduces a polynomial equation in one variable to an identity when it is substituted for the variable. c. A number at which a polynomial has the value zero. 9. Music a. The note from which a chord is built. b. Such a note occurring as the lowest note of a triad or other chord. v. root·ed, root·ing, roots v.intr. 1. To grow roots or a root: Carrot tops will root in water. 2. To become firmly established or settled: The idea of tolerance has rooted in our culture. v.tr. Idiom: 1. To plant and fix the roots of (a plant) in soil or the ground. 2. To establish or settle firmly: Our love of the ocean has rooted us here. 3. To be the source or origin of: "Much of [the team's] success was rooted in the bullpen" (Dan Shaughnessy). 4. a. To dig or pull out by the roots. Often used with up or out: We rooted out the tree stumps with a tractor. b. To remove or get rid of. Often used with out: "declared that waste and fraud will be vigorously rooted out of Government" (New York Times). root and branch Utterly; completely: The organization has been transformed root and branch by its new leaders. [Middle English rot, from Old English rōt, from Old Norse; see wrād- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] rooter n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
intr.v. root·ed, root·ing, roots 1. To give audible encouragement or applause to a contestant or team; cheer. See Synonyms at applaud. 2. To give moral support to someone; hope for a favorable outcome for someone: We'll be rooting for you when you take the exam. [Possibly alteration of ROUT3.] rooter n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
