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Boot vs Root - What's the difference?

boot | root |

As a noun boot

is boat.

As a proper noun root is

.

boot

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) boote, .

Noun

(wikipedia boot) (en noun)
  • A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.
  • A blow with the foot; a kick.
  • (construction) A flexible cover of rubber or plastic, which may be preformed to a particular shape and used to protect a shaft, lever, switch, or opening from dust, dirt, moisture, etc.
  • A torture device used on the feet or legs, such as a Spanish boot.
  • (US) A parking enforcement device used to immobilize a car until it can be towed or a fine is paid; a wheel clamp.
  • A rubber bladder on the leading edge of an aircraft’s wing, which is inflated periodically to remove ice buildup. A deicing boot.
  • (obsolete) A place at the side of a coach, where attendants rode; also, a low outside place before and behind the body of the coach.
  • (archaic) A place for baggage at either end of an old-fashioned stagecoach.
  • (Australia, British, NZ, automotive) The luggage storage compartment of a sedan or saloon car.
  • * 1998 , , A Sight For Sore Eyes , 2010, page 260,
    • He heaved the bag and its contents over the lip of the boot' and on to the flagstones. When it was out, no longer in that ' boot but on the ground, and the bag was still intact, he knew the worst was over.
  • * 2003 , Keith Bluemel, Original Ferrari V-12 1965-1973: The Restorer's Guide , unnumbered page,
    • The body is constructed of welded steel panels, with the bonnet, doors and boot lid in aluminium on steel frames.
  • * 2008 , MB Chattelle, Richmond, London: The Peter Hacket Chronicles , page 104,
    • Peers leant against the outside of the car a lit up her filter tip and watched as Bauer and Putin placed their compact suitcases in the boot' of the BMW and slammed the ' boot lid down.
  • (computing, informal) The act or process of removing somebody from a chat room.
  • (British, slang) unattractive person, ugly woman
  • (firearms) A hard plastic case for a long firearm, typically moulded to the shape of the gun and intended for use in a vehicle.
    • Synonyms
    * (shoe) buskin, mukluk * (blow with foot) kick * (car storage) trunk (US) * (parking enforcement device) wheel clamp * fired, laid off
    Derived terms
    * bet one's boots * boot camp * boot cut * Boot Hill * bootless * bootstrap * car boot, car boot sale, boot sale * chewie on ya boot * Denver boot, aka wheel clamp * get the boot * give the boot * horse boot * army boot * Australian boot * Chelsea boot * chukka boot * combat boot * cowboy boot * football boot * go-go boot * gum boot, gumboot * Hessian boot * hiking boot * hip boot * hobnail boot * jackboot * Jesus boots * jump boot, paratrooper boot * jungle boot * knee high boot * kinky boot * Malay boot * motorcycle boot * riding boot * rigger boot * shake in one's boots * shoot the boots * ski boot * snowboard boot * Spanish boot * steel-toe boot * tabi boot * tanker boot * the boot is on the other foot * thigh boot * thigh-high boot * ugg boot, ug boot * walking boot (aka ankle walker) * Wellington boots * work boot

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To kick.
    • I booted the ball toward my teammate.
  • To put boots on, especially for riding.
  • * Ben Jonson
    • Coated and booted for it.
  • To apply corporal punishment (compare slippering).
  • (informal) To forcibly eject.
    • We need to boot those troublemakers as soon as possible
  • (slang) To vomit.
    • Sorry, I didn’t mean to boot all over your couch.
  • (computing, informal) To disconnect forcibly; to eject from an online service, conversation, etc.
  • * 2002 , Dan Verton, The Hacker Diaries - Page 67
    • As an IRC member with operator status, Swallow was able to manage who was allowed to remain in chat sessions and who got booted off the channel.
  • * 2003 , John C. Dvorak, Chris Pirillo, Online! - Page 173
    • Even flagrant violators of the TOS are not booted .
  • * 2002 , Jobe Makar, Macromedia Flash Mx Game Design Demystified - Page 544
    • In Electroserver, the kick command disconnects a user totally from the server and gives him a message about why he was booted .
    Usage notes
    The more common term for “to eject from a chatroom” etc. is kick .
    Synonyms
    * (kick) hoof, kick * (disconnect from online conversation) kick
    Derived terms
    * boot up * boot up the backside, boot up the bum

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) boote, bote, bot, from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * bote

    Noun

  • (dated) remedy, amends
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • Thou art boot for many a bruise / And healest many a wound.
  • * Wordsworth
    • next her Son, our soul's best boot
  • (uncountable) profit, plunder
  • (obsolete) That which is given to make an exchange equal, or to make up for the deficiency of value in one of the things exchanged; compensation; recompense
  • * Shakespeare
    • I'll give you boot , I'll give you three for one.
  • (obsolete) Profit; gain; advantage; use.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot .
    Derived terms
    * to boot

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to profit, avail, benefit
  • * Hooker
    • What booteth it to others that we wish them well, and do nothing for them?
  • * Byron
    • What subdued / To change like this a mind so far imbued / With scorn of man, it little boots to know.
  • * Southey
    • What boots to us your victories?
  • To enrich; to benefit; to give in addition.
  • * Shakespeare
    • And I will boot thee with what gift beside / Thy modesty can beg.
    Quotations
    * (English Citations of "boot")

    Etymology 3

    Shortening of (bootstrap).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (computing) The act or process of bootstrapping; the starting or re-starting of a computing device.
    • It took three boot s, but I finally got the application installed.
    Derived terms
    * boot disk * boot loader * boot sector * cold boot * dual boot * hot boot * warm boot

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (computing) To bootstrap; to start a system, e.g. a computer, by invoking its boot process or bootstrap.
    • When arriving at the office, first thing I do is booting my machine.

    Derived terms

    * reboot

    Etymology 4

    From , by shortening

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bootleg recording.

    • Anagrams

    * * English terms with multiple etymologies ----

    root

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ; cognate with wort and radix.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The part of a plant, generally underground, that absorbs water and nutrients.
    • This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.
  • A root vegetable.
  • *
    • two fields which should have been sown with roots in the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough.
  • The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
    • Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.
  • The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.
    • The root is the only part of the hair that is alive.
  • The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.
    • He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen.
  • The primary source; origin.
    • The love of money is the root of all evil.
  • * John Locke
    • They were the roots out of which sprang two distinct people.
  • (arithmetic) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.
    • The cube root of 27 is 3.
  • (arithmetic) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”).
    • Multiply by root 2.
  • (analysis) A zero (of a function).
  • (graph theory, computing) The single node of a tree that has no parent.
  • (linguistic morphology) The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Inflectional stems often derive from roots.
  • (philology) A word from which another word or words are derived.
  • (music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
    • (Busby)
  • The lowest place, position, or part.
  • * Milton
    • deep to the roots of hell
  • * Southey
    • the roots of the mountains
  • (computing) In UNIX terminology, the first user account with complete access to the operating system and its configuration, found at the root of the directory structure.
  • (computing) The person who manages accounts on a UNIX system.
  • (computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories. (rfex)
    • Synonyms
    * (source) basis, origin, source * (zero of a function) zero * (word from which another is derived) etymon * superuser (), root account, root user
    Antonyms
    * (zero of a function) pole
    Holonyms
    * (zero of a function) kernel
    Derived terms
    * cube root * functional root * put down roots * root canal * root cause * rootkit * roots * roots music * rootsy * square root * strictly roots * take root * taproot * root gap

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (computing, slang, transitive) To break into a computer system and obtain root access.
    • We rooted his box and planted a virus on it.
  • To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.
  • * Mortimer
    • In deep grounds the weeds root deeper.
  • * '>citation
  • To be firmly fixed; to be established.
  • * Bishop Fell
    • If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misapprehensions, he gave them not leave to root and fasten by concealment.

    See also

    * (linguistics) stem

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . Cognate with rodent. Cognate with Dutch wroeten.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To turn up or dig with the snout.
    • A pig roots the earth for truffles.
  • (by extension) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.
  • To rummage, to search as if by digging in soil.
    • rooting about in a junk-filled drawer
  • To root out; to abolish.
  • * Shakespeare
    • I will go root away the noisome weeds.
  • * Bible, Deuteronomy xxix. 28
    • The Lord rooted them out of their land and cast them into another land.
  • (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) To have sexual intercourse.
    • Usage notes
    * The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense is somewhat milder than fuck but still quite coarse, certainly not for polite conversation. The sexual sense will often be understood, unless care is taken with the context to make the rummage sense clear, or 'root through' or 'root around' is used. The past participle rooted'' is equivalent to ''fucked'' in the figurative sense of broken or tired, but ''rooting'' is only the direct verbal sense, not an all-purpose intensive like ''fucking .
    Synonyms
    * (rummage) dig out, root out, rummage * (have sexual intercourse) screw, bang, drill (US), shag (British) - See also
    Derived terms
    * root about * rooted * root out * root up

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
    • Fancy a root ?
  • (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) A sexual partner.
    • Usage notes
    * The Australian/New Zealand sexual sense of root'' is somewhat milder than ''fuck'' but still quite coarse, certainly not for polite conversation. The normal usage is ''to have a root or similar.
    Synonyms
    * (act of sexual intercourse) screw (qualifier), shag (UK); see also * (sexual partner) screw (US)

    Etymology 3

    Possibly an alteration of , influenced by hoot

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (intransitive, with for, US) To cheer to show support for.
  • * 1908 ,
    • Let me root', '''root''', ' root for the home team,
  • (US) To hope for the success of. Rendered as 'root for'.
    • I'm rooting for you, don't let me down!
    Synonyms
    * (cheer) barrack (qualifier), cheer on

    Anagrams

    * ----