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

Supabase is built on Postgres, the popular developer database system that competes with Google’s Firebase and is a bet on an open-source future. —Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2025

The project demanded 700,000 node hours and more than 17,000 GPUs using AthenaPK, an open-source astrophysical code. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025

His current company, Axantum, offers Xecrets Ez as an open-source alternative to AxCrypt. —PC Magazine, 29 Sep. 2025

As of Thursday morning, open-source maritime tracking websites showed the Pushpa sailing southwest through the North Sea toward the English Channel, with its eventual destination listed as Vadinar in India. —David Brennan, ABC News, 25 Sep. 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