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

The models are fully open-source under MIT license, with very low cost per million input tokens as low as $0.07. —Ron Schmelzer, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025

Notably, OpenAI declined to benchmark its new open-weight models against Chinese open-source systems like DeepSeek or Qwen—despite the fact that those models have recently outperformed U.S. rivals on key reasoning benchmarks. —Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 6 Aug. 2025

Going open-source could complicate OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft, which has so far been the only beneficiary of the company’s AI models, The Verge’s Tom Warren noted. —Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Powered by open-source technology and built with privacy at the core, Halo is designed to support you on your terms. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 4 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for open-source

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