![]() The exact origin of the fourth homograph-the "cheering" one ("rooting for the underdog," "fans rooting their team on")-is a mystery, but it may be a 19th-century alteration of rout, a British dialectal verb meaning "to low loudly" or "to bellow" (as cattle do, and sometimes fans). The animal's rooting then became associated with other acts of searching especially those involving poking or digging about, literally and figuratively, as in "Engineers are working at rooting out the cause of the problem." Originally, it referred to the pig's act of rooting in search for food. It developed as an alteration (perhaps influenced by the noun root) of wroot, from Middle English wroten and Old English wrōtan. In the early 16th century, another verbal root began to be used. As both the noun and verb matured, various extended senses influenced by the functions of roots sprang forth from them-for example, "Money is the root of all evil," "a dance rooted in African tradition," "The captain rooted out the mutinous crew members" (which suggests a direct and complete removal as if pulling out by the roots). The related verb form meaning "to grow and develop roots" (as in "The tree had difficulty rooting in the poor soil") is planted in the 14th century. ![]() The noun goes back to Old English in the form rōt with the familiar sense of its modern form root denoting the underground anchoring part of a plant that absorbs water and minerals. Root has four homographs-one noun and three verbs. We'll then end with an explanation as to why some mix-ups between these words occur along with some examples of them-and a refresher. The most logical route to take in explaining the difference in these words is to start with their origins and their basic meanings and provide some examples of usage in order to get familiar with them. Plot a route to the stadium to root for your team, who we hope does not lose in a rout. ![]() ![]() ( Rout is also a homophone of route when pronounced as \ROWT\). There is also the closely spelled rout that is occasionally mixed-up with both root and route. Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently such being the case, root and route are sometimes confused in writing. In addition, root is a homophone of route (which can be pronounced \ROOT\ or \ROWT\). Homographs are words that are spelled alike but are different in meaning, derivation, or pronunciation-and generally they have their own entries in standard dictionaries. Uses of the verb root illustrated in the introduction belong to different homographs of the word. Constance Lindsay Skinner, The Tiger Who Walks Alone, 1927 Homophones and Homographs In the yard below the garden, just outside the palm fence at the back, a score of pigs and chickens rooted and pecked. Sports fans have something in common with plants and farm animals-they all "root." Sports fans root for their team (and sometimes remain rooted to their seats in shock after their team just got routed) plants root in soil pigs root-that is, dig with their snouts-for food (this root is applied to other animals, snouted or snoutless, as well-like chickens). There is also the word rout, meaning “defeat,” and is both a noun and verb pronounced \ROWT. There are four distinct words spelled root in the dictionary, beginning with the noun meaning “the anchoring part of a plant” and its related verb meaning “to grow and develop roots.” Another is the verb meaning “to turn up or dig in the earth” or “to poke or dig about.” Finally, root can be used to mean “to cheer” or “to wish the success of something.” Route is a noun meaning “a road or highway” or “a course or line of travel” and a verb meaning “to send or direct to a specific path.” Both of these words can be pronounced either \ROOT\ or \ROWT.
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