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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 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.

See Examples For:

rootlet

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

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 16, 2019

A seed does not normally germinate until the rootlet of a suitable plant creeps close to it through the soil.

From Time Magazine Archive

It suits Tryon to imagine a great green heart beating slowly beneath the earth, with every rootlet and capillary in the village pulsing to it.

From Time Magazine Archive

I wouldn’t trade a single rootlet for any of it.

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

It sent downward a rootlet to get soil and water, and upward it shot a stem to which the first pair of leaves was attached.

From Arbor Day Leaves A Complete Programme For Arbor Day Observance, Including Readings, Recitations, Music, and General Information by Egleston, Nathaniel Hillyer

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