In general, the $n$th root of a number $a$ refers to the solutions of the equation
$$\tag{1}
x^n = a
$$
In particular, the square root, which is the second root, is a solution to the equation
$$
x^2 = a
$$
Without any additional modifiers, the word root of a number refers to this square root. For example, the root of $256$ can be thought of as the solution to the equation
$$
x^2 = 256
$$
It's fairly easy to see that this has the solutions $16$ and $-16$.
But if you're using a calculator (be it a pocket calculator or a computer), normally a calculator doesn't know how to list all the solutions. In calculators, the root is calculated by
\begin{equation}\tag{2}
x = \sqrt[n]{a}
\end{equation}
And the square root is again same as $n=2$. The difference between Equations (1) and (2) is that the result of the calculation in the second equation is either always positive (if $n$ is even) or takes the sign of $a$ (if $n$ is odd). Therefore, if you ask a calculator, the root of $256$ is $\sqrt{256} = 16$.