pseudoroot

English

Etymology

pseudo- +‎ root

Noun

pseudoroot (plural pseudoroots)

1. (linguistics) A fake root word.
   • 2011, R. Harald Baayen, Robert Schreuder, Morphological Structure in Language Processing, page 186:

     In Experiment 1, pseudowords made up of Italian derivational suffixes of various frequencies and meaningless pseudoroots were contrasted to pseudowords in which the same pseudoroots were combined with control orthographically legal final sequences.

2. (mathematics) A value that appears to be a root of a polynomial equation but that is not actually a root, such as one obtained when factors cancel out in the process of solving the equation.
   • 2016, Scott Chapman, Marco Fontana, Alfred Geroldinger, Multiplicative Ideal Theory and Factorization Theory, page 398:

     This allows one to express coefficients of polynomials in terms of pseudoroots.

3. (biology) Any projection or nodule, such as the hypha of a fungus, that has a rootlike appearance without serving as an actual root.
   • 2023, Gustavo Molina, Minaxi Sharma, Rachid Benhida, Microbial Bioprocessing of Agri-food Wastes:

     In addition, pseudoroots of anaerobic fungi and various cellulases secreted by rumen microorganisms are the main reasons for the efficient degradation of lignocellulosic biomass in rumen fermentation.