open-source
adjective
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
Steve Lohr2
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
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
Nick WatersExamples of open-source in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
On Friday, Anthropic announced new legal, finance and product marketing capabilities for its Claude Cowork productivity tool, and released the plugins under an open-source license, enabling customization.
—Jordan Novet, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2026
OpenClaw is a new open-source, locally run AI agent that can take action on anything on your computer – and the internet – on your behalf, like sending emails or notifying you when your favorite artists has a new song on Spotify.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 3 Feb. 2026
Denmark’s government and the cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus have also been trying out open-source software.
—Kelvin Chan, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Gourault often subverts the extractivist logic of new media technologies and employs open-source investigation in the production of his films.
—Farren Fei Yuan, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for open-source
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jordan Novet, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2026
OpenClaw is a new open-source, locally run AI agent that can take action on anything on your computer – and the internet – on your behalf, like sending emails or notifying you when your favorite artists has a new song on Spotify.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 3 Feb. 2026
Denmark’s government and the cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus have also been trying out open-source software.
—Kelvin Chan, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Gourault often subverts the extractivist logic of new media technologies and employs open-source investigation in the production of his films.
—Farren Fei Yuan, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for open-source
Cite this Entry
“Open-source.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open-source. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
