taproot

[ tap-root, -root ]

/ ˈtæpˌrut, -ˌrʊt /

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noun Botany.

a main root descending downward from the radicle and giving off small lateral roots.

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Origin of taproot

First recorded in 1595–1605; tap² + root¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use taproot in a sentence

Can I really have found the tap-root of my illustrious ancestry at last?
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
You have no hold on a human being whose affections are without a tap-root!
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood
The last illustration cuts at the root of all sin and crime, the tap-root of selfishness.
Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of Matthew|John Monro Gibson
They reach away down and get a convulsive grip on the very tap-root of this flourishing faith.
The Devil's Dictionary|Ambrose Bierce

A large grape-vine sent its tap-root through the crust of the earth, and by that they commenced to climb out.
Mary and I|Stephen Return Riggs

British Dictionary definitions for taproot

taproot

/ (ˈtæpˌruːt) /

noun

the large single root of plants such as the dandelion, which grows vertically downwards and bears smaller lateral roots

Derived forms of taproot

taprooted, adjective

Word Origin for taproot

C17: from tap ² + root 1

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

Scientific definitions for taproot

taproot

[ tăp′rōōt′, -rut′ ]

The main root in gymnosperms, eudicotyledons, and magnoliids, usually stouter than the lateral roots and growing straight downward from the stem. The taproot develops from the primary root. The taproot and its lateral roots penetrate deeper into the soil than the fibrous roots characteristic of monocotyledons. Compare fibrous root.

Cultural definitions for taproot

taproot

The single deep root of many deciduous trees that forms the basis for their root systems.

notes for taproot

Figuratively, a “taproot” is the source of an idea or work: “His childhood in Wales is the taproot of his poetry.”