fountainhead
noun
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In Walden, widely considered Henry David Thoreau’s masterwork, the poet-philosopher extolled one major—nay, transcendent—perk of being an early bird: “Morning air! If men will not drink of this at the fountainhead of the day, why, then, we must even bottle up some and sell it in the shops, for the benefit of those who have lost their subscription ticket to morning time in this world.” Thoreau was using fountainhead in its figurative sense—referring to morning as the “origin” of the day to follow—while also paying homage to its literal meaning, “the source of a stream” (the earliest sense of fountain being “a natural spring”). As someone who spent two years living, writing, and meditating in a cabin, Thoreau was nothing, after all, if not thorough.
Examples of fountainhead in a Sentence
Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 13 Oct. 2025
Trump’s aggressive acts were red meat for those who view California as the fountainhead of permissive behavior.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 11 June 2025
On the day of the Belvedere's dedication, hundreds of students from Louisville schools released balloons into the sky and watched as fountainheads sprayed water in a dazzling display.
—Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 1 Mar. 2025
In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research.
—Kristan Hawkins, Newsweek, 6 Feb. 2025
This suggests that Americans will witness more than Band-Aid fixes, that with his election mandate and a Republican majority in Congress, Trump will overhaul the education system into a fountainhead of moral and academic excellence.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 13 Nov. 2024
Boards rarely know how the company actually works: The CEO is usually the fountainhead of all information to the board.
—Shivaram Rajgopal, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024
From tea drinking to persimmon cultivation, the city became a fountainhead of Japanese food culture.
—Megan Zhang, Saveur, 9 May 2024
The patriarch, the fountainhead, is Eli McCullough, born the same day that Texas became a state, a hard man forged through fire.
—Chris Vognar, Chron, 28 May 2023
Cite this Entry
“Fountainhead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fountainhead. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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fountainhead
noun
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