1346, from O.Fr. sourse "a rising, beginning, fountainhead of a river or stream," fem. noun taken from pp. of sourdre "to rise, spring up," from L. surgere "to rise" (see surge). Meaning "written work (later also a person) supplying information or evidence" is from 1788.
the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root" [syn: beginning]
2.
a document (or organization) from which information is obtained; "the reporter had two sources for the story"
3.
anything that provides inspiration for later work
4.
a facility where something is available
5.
a person who supplies information [syn: informant]
6.
someone who originates or causes or initiates something; "he was the generator of several complaints" [syn: generator]
7.
(technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system; "a heat source"; "a source of carbon dioxide" [ant: sink]
8.
anything (a person or animal or plant or substance) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies; "an infectious agent depends on a reservoir for its survival" [syn: reservoir]
9.
a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation" [syn: reference]
verb
1.
get (a product) from another country or business; "She sourced a supply of carpet"; "They are sourcing from smaller companies"
2.
specify the origin of; "The writer carefully sourced her report"
Or"i*gin\, n. [F. origine, L. origo, -iginis, fr. oriri to rise, become visible; akin to Gr. 'orny`nai to stir up, rouse, Skr. [.r], and perh. to E. run.]1. The first existence or beginning of anything; the birth. This mixed system of opinion and sentiment had its origin in the ancient chivalry. --Burke. 2. That from which anything primarily proceeds; the fountain; the spring; the cause; the occasion. 3. (Anat.) The point of attachment or end of a muscle which is fixed during contraction; -- in contradistinction to insertion. Origin of co["o]rdinate axes (Math.), the point where the axes intersect. See Note under Ordinate. Syn: Commencement; rise; source; spring; fountain; derivation; cause; root; foundation. Usage: Origin, Source. Origin denotes the rise or commencement of a thing; source presents itself under the image of a fountain flowing forth in a continuous stream of influences. The origin of moral evil has been much disputed, but no one can doubt that it is the source of most of the calamities of our race. I think he would have set out just as he did, with the origin of ideas -- the proper starting point of a grammarian, who is to treat of their signs. --Tooke. Famous Greece, That source of art and cultivated thought Which they to Rome, and Romans hither, brought. --Waller.
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Audio Help [sawrs, sohrs] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, sourced, sourcing. 
