taproot

[ tap-root, -root ]

noun

, Botany.

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

taproot

/ ˈtæpˌruːt /

noun

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

taproot

/ tăp′ro̅o̅t′,-rt′ /

1. 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.
2. Compare fibrous root

taproot

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

Notes

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

Derived Forms

• ˈtapˌrooted, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of taproot¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; tap ² + root ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of taproot¹

C17: from tap ² + root ¹

Example Sentences

Some of them had sent down a taproot nearly or quite three inches in length.

From Project Gutenberg

The root of evil, the taproot from which the evils of modern society develop, is the profit idea.

From Project Gutenberg

In truth, the leading foible of Hodgkinson through life, was vanity—the great taproot of all his irregularities and errors.

From Project Gutenberg

By the following autumn, the better seedlings will have ten or twelve inches of top, and two and a half or three feet of taproot.

From Project Gutenberg

In normally developed trees of the same age, the taproot would have been three or four feet long.

From Project Gutenberg