根

ね
root

* * *

ね【根】

①［草木の］

〔根っこ〕

*root

〖C〗［しばしば ～s］ 根， 地下茎

Plants suck moisture in through their roots. 植物は根から水分を吸い上げる

tumble over the root of a tree 木の根につまづいて転ぶ

take ［make］ root in ［among］... …に根付く， 定着する， 根をおろす

stub

〖C〗(木の)切り株；(倒木・歯などの)根， 切り［折れ］残り.

②［原因・根拠］

¶ → 根も葉もない

③［性質］

〔心根， 心〕

¶ → 根は親切だ

¶彼は～はとても親切だ

He is a very kind man at bottom.

* * *

I

こん【根】

1 【数】 a root; a radical; a solution 《to an equation》; 【化】 a radical; a radicle; a group.

2 〔根気〕 perseverance; stamina. [⇒こんき³]

●根がない lack endurance [stamina, staying power]; give up [in] easily

・根が尽きる run out of [use up all one's] energy; have no more energy [stamina, staying power]; one's energy runs out; reach the end of one's endurance; 《口》 run out of steam

・この子は 30 分以上は根が続かない. He can't keep going [concentrate] for more than thirty minutes.

●根の続くかぎりがんばる keep going until one has no energy left [drops]; do not give up until one is completely exhausted

・根の要る作業 work that needs perseverance; work you have to keep (on) at; laborious [painstaking, gruelling] work.

●根を詰める put all one's concentration into…; concentrate hard [for all one is worth] on…; work obsessively at [on…]

・あまり根を詰めて仕事をすると体に毒だよ. If you slave away too hard at [throw yourself too hard into, concentrate too hard on] your work you'll get sick.

奇数[偶数]根 an odd [even] root.

平方根 a square [second] root.

4 乗根 the fourth root.

立方根 a cube [cubic, third] root.

根比べ ⇒こんくらべ.

根仕事 (a job of) work requiring perseverance; drudgery.

根負け ⇒こんまけ.

II

ね【根】

1 〔植物の〕 a root; (根茎) a rhizome.

●ショウガの根 ginger root; a ginger rhizome.

●根が付く[生える] take [strike] root; root

・柳は枝を挿し木するとすぐに根が付く. A planted willow cutting readily takes root.

・水栽培の球根から根が出た. The roots came out on my hydroponic bulbs.

・彼は大地に根が生えたように突っ立っていた. He seemed rooted to the earth.

・追い出そうとしたが彼らは根が生えたように動こうとしなかった. I tried to chase them out but they seemed rooted to the spot.

●草は根から抜かないとすぐまた伸びてくる. If you don't pull a weed out by the roots, it'll grow right back.

●根のない rootless.

●地中に深く根を下ろす[生やす] send down roots deep into the soil

・根をしっかりと張る spread its roots wide

・その樫(_かし)の木は地中深く太い根を張っていた. The oak tree spread its thick roots deep into the soil.

・雑草の根を引き抜く pull up weeds by the roots

・伐採した木の根を掘り起こす dig up the roots of a felled tree

・あそこにすわりこんでもう 2 時間たつが彼は根を生やしたように動かない. He's been sitting there for two solid hours and appears rooted to the spot.

●松の根はかなり遠いところまで伸びる[広がる]. Pine roots spread out quite far.

2 〔付け根･根元〕

●折れた歯の根 the stump of a broken tooth

・腫物の根 the core 《of a boil》.

●歯の根が合わない ⇒はのね

・舌の根が乾かぬうちに ⇒した².

●草の根をかき分けて捜す ⇒くさのね 1

・息の根を止める[絶つ] ⇒いきのね.

3 〔物事の根本原因〕 the root (cause).

●官僚の腐敗は根が深い. The roots of bureaucratic corruption run deep.

・両国の対立は根が深い. The conflict between the two nations has deep roots.

●不法行為の根を断つ root out illegal acts

・密輸組織の根を断つ uproot a smuggling ring

・政治家と企業の癒着(_ゆちゃく)の根を断つ eliminate collusion between politicians and entrepreneurs

・いま麻薬密売の根を取り除かなければわが国は手のほどこしようのない事態となるだろう. If we don't eradicate the market for illegal drugs now, the nation will find itself in an impossible situation.

●様々な公務員の不祥事が続くが, その根は同じだ. All sorts of scandals involving civil servants continue to occur, but the root cause is always the same.

・現在の領土問題の根は戦後処理のまずさにある. The reason for current territorial disputes lies in postwar mismanagement.

4 〔本性〕 nature.

●根が正直な naturally honest; good-natured; good at heart [bottom]

・根がお人よしなので being a good person by nature

・根が明るい innately cheerful

・根が暗い congenitally gloomy.

●ゴリラは体は大きいが根はおとなしい動物だ. Though gorillas are large in body, they are gentle animals by nature.

根に持つ 〔いつまでも恨みに思う〕 bear sb ill will; have [harbor] a grudge against sb; hold sth against sb.

●つまらないことを根に持つ hold a grudge against sb due to a trifling matter

・彼女はあのことを根に持ってことあるごとに私に反抗する. Prompted by her bitterness about that, she crosses swords with me every chance she gets.

・彼はいまだにあの事を根に持っている. After all this time he still holds it against me.

・彼はそんなことを根に持つ男ではない. He's not the sort to hold something like that against you.

根も葉もない 〔まったく根拠がない〕 groundless; unfounded.

●根も葉もないうわさ a groundless rumor; unfounded gossip

・根も葉もないことを言い立てる insist on something that has no basis in fact

・それは根も葉もない話だ. It's a story made out of whole cloth. | It's a complete fabrication.

根を下ろす 〔定着する〕 take root; take firm hold.

●自然保護の精神がその国に根を下ろすのはまだだいぶ先のことだろう. It will be yet some time before the spirit of conservation strikes root in that country.

・干拓地への入植者たちは今やすっかりそこに根を下ろしている. The settlers of the lands reclaimed from the sea have long since lowered their roots.

ひげ根 〔稲や麦などの細い根〕 a fiber. [⇒ひげね]

根瘤(_こぶ)病 〔アブラナ科の植物の〕 clubroot.