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Glite Dictionary
🌱 To start growing 🏠 To settle
to take root

to take root

6 4.0
To settle in one place and start living there
  • phrasal verb
  • /teɪk ruːt/
translation icon : echar raíces (en)
  • Her revolutionary ideas took root among the people, changing their perspective on social issues.
  • democracy takes root
  • institutions take root
  • movement took root

Examples

  • "The wars they started in Iraq and Afghanistan need to be resolved before democracy can take root."

    Academic text (2014)

  • By 1990, massive and often unprecedented movements of political protest had taken root in a number of areas.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Her revolutionary ideas... have already taken root among the people.

    Dungeons & Dragons (2000)

  • However, numerous problems in the 1996 presidential election caused concern about whether democracy had taken root in Russia.

    Academic text (1997)

  • I avoid them and don't allow them to take root in my life.

    Blog text (32)

  • The communist movement took root in the discontent of the people, creating a powerful movement for change.

    Academic text (1995)

  • But it depends on whether true democracy takes root in the affected countries, and that is far from assured.

    Academic text (2012)

  • LaGuardia may seem like an improbable setting for such an ecosystem to take root.

    Academic text (2016)

  • A pan-Islamist movement has never taken root, nor is it likely to do so in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world.

    Academic text (2003)

  • But clerical opposition was not the only reason that political socialism failed to take root among Denver's Irish workers.

    Academic text (1992)

Synonyms

to settle
vsto take root
463 2.5

To live in a place, often for a long time

emphasizes broader establishment in place or way of life, not only residence
to settle down
vsto take root
173 3.0

To start living a quiet, steady life by having a regular job or a family

is about becoming firmly established rather than specifically choosing a quiet lifestyle
to settle in
vsto take root
132 3.3

To start to feel comfortable and at home in a new place or job

means becoming firmly established rather than just initially adjusting
to root
vsto take root
21 5.1

To settle and start living in one place

is the two word phrase that expresses the same idea
to put down roots
vsto take root
  • Informal
8 4.2

To start living in one place for a long time and make it your home

is broader and includes settling into place or a way of life
to hang up one's hat
vsto take root
  • Informal
1 7.7

To live in a place and make it your home

is broader, meaning to become established in place or way of life

Antonyms

to displace
140 5.5

To make a person leave their usual place or job

to uproot
38 4.4

To pull a plant out of the ground or force people to leave home

How Established

to establish
411 4.1
to take hold
33 3.8
to take root
6 4.0
to emerge
604 4.0

Surface Forms

take root infinitive
taking root present participle
takes root third person singular
took root past
taken root past participle

Morphology

take + root

The meaning 'to begin to develop or become firmly established' is directly derivable from combining 'take' with 'root' (where 'root' conveys putting down roots / becoming established). This plant-based metaphor is common across languages and follows ordinary compositional patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Take root comes from plants: a seed or young plant sends out roots and holds fast in the ground. So when a person or a business 'takes root' it 'becomes settled' and stays firmly in one place.