The difference between Root and Stem

Root as a noun:

The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction.

Root as a noun:

A root vegetable.

Root as a noun:

The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.

Root as a noun:

The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.

Root as a noun:

The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.

Root as a noun:

The primary source; origin.

Root as a noun (arithmetic):

Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression.

Root as a noun (arithmetic):

A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”).

Root as a noun (analysis):

A zero (of an equation).

Root as a noun (graph theory, computing):

The single node of a tree that has no parent.

Root as a noun (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.

Root as a noun (philology):

A word from which another word or words are derived.

Root as a noun (music):

The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.

Root as a noun:

The lowest place, position, or part.

Root as a noun (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; the person who manages accounts on a UNIX system.

Root as a noun (computing):

The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.

Root as a noun (slang):

A penis, especially the base of a penis.

Root as a verb:

To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.

Root as a verb:

To be firmly fixed; to be established.

Root as a verb (computing, slang, transitive):

To break into a computer system and obtain root access.

Root as a verb (ambitransitive):

To turn up or dig with the snout.

Root as a verb (by extension):

To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.

Root as a verb (intransitive):

To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.

Root as a verb (transitive):

To root out; to abolish.

Root as a verb (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, vulgar, slang):

To have sexual intercourse.

Root as a verb (horticulture, intransitive):

To grow roots

Root as a verb (horticulture, transitive):

To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings

Root as a noun (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang):

An act of sexual intercourse.

Root as a noun (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang):

A sexual partner.

Root as a verb (intransitive, with "for" or "on", US):

To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of.

Stem as a noun:

The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors.

Stem as a noun:

A branch of a family.

Stem as a noun:

An advanced or leading position; the lookout.

Stem as a noun (botany):

The above-ground stalk (technically axis) of a vascular plant, and certain anatomically similar, below-ground organs such as rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, and corms.

Stem as a noun:

A slender supporting member of an individual part of a plant such as a flower or a leaf; also, by analogy, the shaft of a feather.

Stem as a noun:

A narrow part on certain man-made objects, such as a wine glass, a tobacco pipe, a spoon.

Stem as a noun (linguistics):

The main part of an uninflected word to which affixes may be added to form inflections of the word. A stem often has a more fundamental root. Systematic conjugations and declensions derive from their stems.

Stem as a noun (slang):

A person's leg.

Stem as a noun (typography):

A vertical stroke of a letter.

Stem as a noun (music):

A vertical stroke marking the length of a note in written music.

Stem as a noun (nautical):

The vertical or nearly vertical forward extension of the keel, to which the forward ends of the planks or strakes are attached.

Stem as a noun:

Component on a bicycle that connects the handlebars to the bicycle fork

Stem as a noun (anatomy):

A part of an anatomic structure considered without its possible branches or ramifications.

Stem as a noun (slang):

A crack pipe; or the long, hollow portion of a similar pipe (i.e. meth pipe) resembling a crack pipe.

Stem as a noun (chiefly British):

A winder on a clock, watch, or similar mechanism

Stem as a verb:

To remove the stem from.

Stem as a verb:

To be caused or derived; to originate.

Stem as a verb:

To descend in a family line.

Stem as a verb:

To direct the stem (of a ship) against; to make headway against.

Stem as a verb (obsolete):

To hit with the stem of a ship; to ram.

Stem as a verb:

To ram (clay, etc.) into a blasting hole.

Stem as a verb (transitive):

To stop, hinder (for instance, a river or blood).

Stem as a verb (skiing):

To move the feet apart and point the tips of the skis inward in order to slow down the speed or to facilitate a turn.

Stem as a noun:

Stem as a noun: