fountainhead

1 a point or place at which something is invented or provided historically, California has served as the fountainhead of that eclectic group of self-actualization movements known as the New Age Synonyms cradle, font, fountain, source, origin, root, seedbed, spring, well, wellspringRelated Words beginning, commencement, dawn, day one, genesis, get-go (also git-go), inception, incipience, incipiency, kickoff, launch, morning, nascence, nascency, onset, outset, start, threshold; baseline, first base, ground zero, square one

2 the source from which something grows or develops a collection of lyrical ballads that became the fountainhead of a literary revolution Synonyms seed, germ, origin, root, seedbedRelated Words font, fountain, spring, well, wellhead, wellspring; beginning, birth, commencement, dawn, genesis, inception, incipiency, launch, morning, onset, outset, start, threshold; creation, inauguration, origination