open-source

adjective

ˈō-pən-ˈsȯrs 

1

a

of software : having the source code freely available for possible modification and redistribution

an open-source operating system

b

: of, relating to, or promoting open-source software

the open-source movement/community

Instead, they opted for the open-source model, in which computer code is openly shared, allowing programmers to modify, improve and fix the software.

—Steve Lohr

2

a

: publicly available for use by the community at large

open-source images

The team uses open-source materials such as obituaries in local newspapers and cemetery visits for its count.

—Brendan Hoffman

b

: relating to or utilizing information that is publicly available

an open-source analysis

Since the advent of the internet, social media and smartphones, open-source intelligence has undergone a revolution as people willingly and publicly post vast amounts of information online. Actors outside of the traditional intelligence community have begun to take notice.

—Nick Waters

Examples of open-source in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To measure the sentiments expressed in the posts, the Herald deployed a machine-learning algorithm using the open-source NRC Emotion Lexicon developed by researchers at the National Research Council in Canada. —Shirsho Dasgupta, Miami Herald, 1 Dec. 2025

Last week, Xiaomi released MiMo-Embodied as an open-source foundation model, which combines autonomous driving and embodied AI technologies. —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 2025

Burke has spent the last year working on an open-source white paper on how fashion brands can better understand the disabled community. —Hikmat Mohammed, Vogue, 27 Nov. 2025

Today’s open-source tool kits can generate millions of legally compliant plans and optimize for different fairness goals (compactness, competitiveness, minority opportunity, county splits, partisan bias). —Newsweek Editors, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for open-source

• counterforce
• intercourse
• nonrecourse
• reinforce
• watercourse
• bourse
• coarse
• course
• force
• gorse
• hoarse
• horse