square root

/ˈskwɛər ˌrut/

/skwɛə rut/

Other forms: square roots

In math, a square root is one number that gives another specific number as a result when you multiply it by itself. In other words, five is the square root of 25 because five times five equals 25.

When you learn about square roots in mathematics, you begin with simple problems like the square root of 49 or the square root of 64. These problems are relatively easy to solve, because the answers are whole numbers: seven and eight, respectively. Solving for square roots has been around nearly as long as math itself — there is evidence of calculations of square roots in ancient Egyptian and ancient Indian documents.

Definitions of square root

1. noun

   a number that when multiplied by itself equals a given number
   type of:

   root

   a number that, when multiplied by itself some number of times, equals a given number