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

In testing described by Anthropic and partner organizations, the system identified thousands of previously unknown software vulnerabilities across major operating systems, browsers and open-source projects, including flaws that had persisted in mature codebases for years. —Aditya Vikram Kashyap, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026

Banning frontier-model deployment within a state may not stop the underlying capability but shift it to jurisdictions with looser rules or to open-source alternatives. —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 15 May 2026

Hardware that once remained limited to major entertainment companies and research institutions has become increasingly accessible through affordable motors, desktop manufacturing tools, and open-source AI software. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 15 May 2026

The hack involves an open-source software library called Tanstack that is widely used for web development. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 14 May 2026

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