Synonyms for source
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Origin — spring; fountainhead; wellhead; any collection of water on or under the surface of the ground in which a…
origin, root, beginning, cause, well, wellspring, fount, head, original, spring, principle, derivation, ancestor, fountain, rise, parentage, onset, commencement, rootage rare
2. Storehouse — the person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired
Definitions
- n. 1
The person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired.
The accused refused to reveal the source of the illegal drugs she was selling.
- n. 2
Spring; fountainhead; wellhead; any collection of water on or under the surface of the ground in which a stream originates.
The main sources of the Euphrates River are the Karasu and Murat Rivers.
- n. 3
A reporter's informant.
- n. 4
Source code.
Forms
- Plural
- sources → origins, roots, beginnings, causes…
Choose the right word
A rise is thought of as in an action; we say that a lake is the source of a certain river, or that the river takes its rise from the lake.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- origin How many people of Algerian origin live in France?
- derivation Esperanto has an excellent derivation system.
- fount Search engines are not the fount of all knowledge.
- reservoir The Algerian dam of Taksebt has a deep reservoir.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| source | steady | |
| origin | falling | |
| derivation | steady | |
| wellspring | rising | |
| fount | steady | |
| reservoir | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- well1, head1, rise1, fund1, root1, seed1, germ1
- 5 letters
- cause1, onset2, fount
- 6 letters
- author2, spring1, parent2, origin3, causer2
- 7 letters
- rootage
- 8 letters
- original4, fountain2, ancestor3
- 9 letters
- beginning3, reference3, principle3, generator4, reservoir3, informant3, parentage3
- 10 letters
- derivation4, storehouse2, wellspring2
- 12 letters
- commencement3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (onset2 = 2 syllables).