roots

British  

/ ruːts /

adjective

1. (of popular music) going back to the origins of a style, esp in being genuine and unpretentious

   roots rock

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Roots Cultural  

1. (1976) A Pulitzer Prize –winning novel by the African-American author Alex Haley, later made into a popular television drama. It traces a black American man's heritage to Africa, where his ancestors had been captured and sold as slaves.

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Other Word Forms

• rootsy adjective

Example Sentences

The roots of Venezuela’s current system go back to the 14-year rule of former President Hugo Chávez, a former paratrooper elected in 1998 after almost two decades of deepening wealth inequality and stagnant living standards.

From The Wall Street Journal

"It's hard to get to societal roots of our problems. But this innovation represents a chance to reduce amputations, improve quality of life, and give the body what it needs to heal itself."

From Science Daily

Raising the water table makes the soil wetter and reduces oxygen around plant roots.

From Science Daily

The roots of California’s insurance crisis go back years.

From The Wall Street Journal

On podcasts and social media he speaks of choosing "my homeland and my roots".

From Barron's