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ra·toon

(ră-tn)

A shoot sprouting from a plant base, as in the banana, pineapple, or sugarcane.

v. ra·tooned, ra·toon·ing, ra·toons

v.intr.

To produce or grow as a ratoon.

v.tr.

To propagate (a crop) from ratoons.

[Spanish retoño, sprout, from retoñar, to sprout : re-, again (from Latin; see RE-) + otoñar, to grow in autumn (from otoño, autumn, from Latin autumnus; see AUTUMN).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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