rootlet

American

[root-lit, root-] / ˈrut lɪt, ˈrʊt- /

noun

Botany.

a little root.
a small or fine branch of a root.
one of the adventitious roots root by which ivy or the like clings to rocks or other supports.

rootlet British

/ ˈruːtlɪt /

noun

a small root or branch of a root

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of rootlet

First recorded in 1785–95; root ¹ + -let

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Dalling noticed that the fronds were strongly embedded in the soil and had sprouted a network of rootlets.

From Science Daily

If it grows up a wall, it can damage stucco with its aerial rootlets.

From Seattle Times

And if the vines are cut off with clippers, some of the fuzzy rootlets will surely remain.

From Washington Post

They have been underground ever since, feeding on sap from the rootlets of grasses and trees and slowly maturing.

From Scientific American

I believe it was the last, deepest rootlet of my denial, expelled.

From The New Yorker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023