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 low-cost drones, the first one-way attack drones the U.S. deployed in the Iran war, have roots in America’s preparation for a separate potential conflict between the U.S. and China.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Although this album has roots planted in the past, it also points toward the future.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, whose roots go back to 1886, is worth roughly $16 billion, including cash and debt, according to FactSet.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

The show examines the environmental and human cost of the atomic era through an artistic lens, tracing present day nuclear risk back to its Cold War roots.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

Maybe, after he and Abby got on top of the tree, Moose would be able to climb the roots, too.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret