ῥίζα
Alt. ῥίζα, ης, ἡ,
I. "a root", Od., attic: in pl. "the roots", Hom.
2. metaph. "the roots of the eye", Od.; "the roots or foundations" of the earth, Hes., Aesch., etc.
3. ἐκ ῥιζῶν, Lat. radicitus, Plut.
II. "anything that grows like a root" from one stem, whence Pindar calls Libya the τρίτη ῥίζα χθονός, considering the earth as divided into three continents.
III. metaph. the "root or stock" from which a family springs, Lat. stirps, Pind., Aesch., etc.; and so "a race, family", Aesch., Eur., etc.