根元

こんぽん
こんげん
ねもと
origin
source
foundation
root
base
principle

* * *

I

ねもと【根元】

*root

〖C〗(髪・舌・歯・指・木などの)付け根， 根元；［～s］ (山の)ふもと.

II

こんげん【根元， 根源】

*root

《正式》［通例 the ～］ 根本， 根底， 根源

Idleness is the root of all evil. ((ことわざ))怠惰は諸悪の根源だ

Money is the root of all evil. ((ことわざ))金は諸悪の根源である

*source

(物・事の)源， 源泉， 根源；(直接の)原因

*principle

〖C〗《正式》本質；根源， 本源；根本原因， 素因

**spring

〖C〗［しばしば ～s］ 源， 起源， 根源.

▲the parent of vices 諸悪の根源.

* * *

ねもと【根元･根本】

1 〔草木の根に近い部分〕 (the part near) the root; the base.

●根元が赤いホウレンソウ spinach that is red near the roots

・根元が腐った柱 a pillar that is rotting at the base.

●木を根元から切り倒す cut down a tree close to [at] the base; 〔のこぎりで〕 saw a tree at the base

・強風で庭の松の木が根元から折れた. The strong wind snapped the pine in my garden at the roots.

●校庭の桜の木の根元にタイムカプセルを埋めた. We buried a time capsule at the foot of the cherry tree in the schoolyard.

●アスパラガスの根元の部分は固くて食べられない. Near the roots asparagus shoots are woody and uneatable.

●草の根元をつかんで引き抜く grasp a plant at the base and uproot it.

2 〔物の付け根〕 the base.

●彼のバットは根元から20 センチのところで折れた. His bat broke in two 20 centimeters from the knob.

●髪の毛の根元に養毛剤を擦り込む rub hair tonic into one's hair roots.

3 〔物事の基底〕 the root; the base.

●新種の発見は彼の仮説を根元からぐらつかせた. The discovery of a new species shook his theory at its very foundations.

●多発する少年犯罪の根元にあるものは何なのか. What is at the root of these many incidents of juvenile crime?

●密入国ルートの根元を断つ interdict the routes of illegal immigrants at their source.