Main Entry: ¹source

Pronunciation: \ˈsȯrs\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English sours, from Anglo-French surse spring, source, from past participle of surdre to rise, spring forth, from Latin surgere — more at surge

Date: 14th century

1 a : a generative force : cause b (1) : a point of origin or procurement : beginning (2) : one that initiates : author; also : prototype, model (3) : one that supplies information
2 a : the point of origin of a stream of water : fountainhead b archaic : spring, fount
3 : a firsthand document or primary reference work
4 : an electrode in a field-effect transistor that supplies the charge carriers for current flow — compare drain, gate

synonyms see origin

— source·less \-ləs\ adjective