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uproot

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 6 December 2021

Pronunciation

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A skidder being used to uproot (etymology 1, sense 1.1) a tree stump.

Etymology 1

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PIE word
*wréh₂ds

From up- (prefix indicating a higher direction or position) +‎ root (“to tear up by the roots; (figuratively) to remove forcibly from a place; to eradicate, exterminate”, verb).[1] Root is derived from root (“underground part of a plant”, noun), from Middle English rote,[2] from Old English rōt, rōte, from Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”).

Verb

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uproot (third-person singular simple present uproots, present participle uprooting, simple past and past participle uprooted)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots; to extirpate, to root up.
      Synonyms: deracinate, disroot, grub up, outroot, rout, unroot
      • 1832, Mrs. S[amuel] C[arter] Hall [i.e., Anna Maria Hall], chapter XIV, in The Buccaneer. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […] (late Colburn and Bentley), →OCLC, pages 272–273:
        Mark me! the Lord's hand is stretched out, and will not be withdrawn until his nest be turned up, even as the plough uprooteth and scattereth the nest of the field-mouse and the blind mole; […]
      • 1839, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Tuggs’s at Ramsgate”, in Sketches by “Boz” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], new edition, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 327:
        [S]he and Mr. Joseph Tuggs, and Miss Charlotta Tuggs, and Mr. Cymon Tuggs, with their eight feet in a corresponding number of yellow shoes, seated themselves on four rush-bottomed chairs, which, being placed in a soft part of the sand, forthwith sunk down some two feet and a half. […] Mr. Cymon, by an exertion of great personal strength, uprooted the chairs, and removed them further back.
      • 1839, Thomas Miller, chapter VI, in Fair Rosamond; or, The Days of King Henry II. An Historical Romance; […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 106:
        Thou shakest the earth with the thunder of thy terror, and uprootest the huge oaks on the highest hills with the echo of thy voice.
      • 1841 December, “The Unicorn. From the German of the Author of ‘Der Frieschutz.’”, in F. Johnston, transl., The New Monthly Belle Assemblée; a Magazine of Literature and Fashion, […], volume XV, London: […] Joseph Rogerson, →OCLC, page 354, column 2:
        [T]hee only have I loved—for thee only have I bloomed; and when thou uprootest me from thy garden, I must wither and die.
      • 1870, “The Ninth Commandment. On Prayer.”, in Charles H[olland] Hoole, transl., The Shepherd of Hermas […], London, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rivingtons, →OCLC, page 64:
        See now what doubt is. It is evil, and unwise, and uprooteth many from the faith; yea, though they be very strong.
      • 2025 February 5, “Network News: NR to cut back vegetation on Heart of Wales line”, in RAIL, number 1028, page 23:
        More than 50 trees fell across a ten-mile section of the line during December's Storm Darragh. In total, more than 70 fell on the line, including around 30 which were uprooted.
    2. (figuratively) To destroy (something) utterly; to eradicate, exterminate.
      Synonyms: annihilate, obliterate; see also Thesaurus:destroy
    3. (figuratively) To remove (someone or something) from a familiar circumstance, especially suddenly and unwillingly.
  2. (intransitive, reflexive) Of oneself or someone: to move away from a familiar environment (for example, to live elsewhere).
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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uproot (plural uproots)

  1. The act of uprooting something.
    • 2014, Alexander Claver, Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java, page 174:
      With the uproot of the Chinese commercial system in the 1890s such a crisis was bound to surface.

Etymology 2

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From up- (prefix indicating a higher direction or position) +‎ root (“of a pig or other animal: to dig or turn up with the snout; to search as if by digging in soil, rummage”, verb).[3] Root is derived from Middle English wroten (“to dig or turn up with the snout; to remove soil, dig up”),[4] from Old English wrōtan (“to dig or turn up with the snout”), from Proto-Germanic *wrōtaną (“to dig or turn up with the snout”); further etymology uncertain.

Verb

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uproot (third-person singular simple present uproots, present participle uprooting, simple past and past participle uprooted)

  1. (transitive) Of a pig or other animal: to dig up (something in the ground) using the snout; to rummage for (something) in the ground; to grub up, to root, to rout.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “uproot, v.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “uproot, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “rọ̄te, n.(4)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ “uproot, v.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
  4. ^ “wrọ̄ten, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Anagrams

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