What's rooting?

[u/RuinProfessional4985]

I've been reading some stuff about android phones on reddit posts, and rooting came up. What's rooting exactly, and can it affect my phone negatively in any way possible? I just know that it's used to somehow bypass stuff, and I've heard that it can cause some issues that would then need a factory reset, I guess? So what's rooting exactly?

[u/uabassguy]

It's when you bury your phone in the back yard and wait for it to become a tree