enraciner

To root or take root — literal for plants (enraciner un arbuste), and very common figuratively for beliefs, habits, or traditions that become deeply entrenched (des préjugés bien enracinés, une coutume enracinée dans la culture).

• Le jardinier a enraciné le jeune plant avec soin. — The gardener rooted the young plant carefully.
• Ces préjugés sont profondément enracinés dans la société. — These prejudices are deeply rooted in society.
• La tradition s'est enracinée au fil des générations. — The tradition became rooted over the generations.

Learners often use it only for plants and miss how naturally French applies enraciné figuratively to habits, fears, and beliefs — closer to English 'deep-seated' or 'entrenched' than a literal gardening term.

• book L'Enracinement — Simone Weil's 1949 philosophical work L'Enracinement (published posthumously by Albert Camus at Gallimard), one of her most influential books, takes its title directly from this verb's root idea of being rooted in a community and its obligations.