Library / English Dictionary

SOURCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A facility where something is available

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

facility; installation (a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "source"):

Golconda (a source of great wealth (especially a mine))

gold mine; goldmine (a good source of something that is desired)

Derivation:

source (get (a product) from another country or business)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Anything that provides inspiration for later work

Synonyms:

germ; seed; source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

inspiration (arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "source"):

taproot (something that provides an important central source for growth or development)

muse (the source of an artist's inspiration)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A document (or organization) from which information is obtained

Example:

the reporter had two sources for the story

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

document; papers; written document (writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "source"):

source materials (publications from which information is obtained)

fountainhead; well; wellspring (an abundant source)

Derivation:

source (specify the origin of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to

Example:

he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation

Synonyms:

reference; source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

publication (a copy of a printed work offered for distribution)

Derivation:

source (specify the origin of)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The place where something begins, where it springs into being

Example:

communism's Russian root

Synonyms:

beginning; origin; root; rootage; source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

point (the precise location of something; a spatially limited location)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "source"):

trail head; trailhead (the beginning of a trail)

point source (a concentrated source (especially of radiation or pollution) that is spatially constricted)

home (place where something began and flourished)

birthplace; cradle; place of origin; provenance; provenience (where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence)

jumping-off place; point of departure (a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched)

wellhead; wellspring (the source of water for a well)

headwater (the source of a river)

fountainhead; head; headspring (the source of water from which a stream arises)

spring (a point at which water issues forth)

derivation (the source or origin from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues))

Sense 6

Meaning:

Anything (a person or animal or plant or substance) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies

Example:

an infectious agent depends on a reservoir for its survival

Synonyms:

reservoir; source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

thing (a separate and self-contained entity)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Someone who originates or causes or initiates something

Example:

he was the generator of several complaints

Synonyms:

author; generator; source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

maker; shaper (a person who makes things)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "source"):

coiner (someone who is a source of new words or new expressions)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A person who supplies information

Synonyms:

informant; source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

communicator (a person who communicates with others)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "source"):

betrayer; blabber; informer; rat; squealer (one who reveals confidential information in return for money)

leaker (a surreptitious informant)

passive source (an informant who is not assigned to obtain specific intelligence but who routinely passes on whatever information he or she has)

whistle-blower; whistle blower; whistleblower (an informant who exposes wrongdoing within an organization in the hope of stopping it)

Sense 9

Meaning:

(technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system

Example:

a source of carbon dioxide

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("source" is a kind of...):

action; activity; natural action; natural process (a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings))

Domain category:

applied science; engineering; engineering science; technology (the discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "source"):

origin (the source of something's existence or from which it derives or is derived)

Antonym:

sink ((technology) a process that acts to absorb or remove energy or a substance from a system)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Specify the origin of

Example:

The writer carefully sourced her report

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "source" is one way to...):

document (support or supply with references)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

source (a document (or organization) from which information is obtained)

source (a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get (a product) from another country or business

Example:

They are sourcing from smaller companies

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "source" is one way to...):

obtain (come into possession of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "source"):

outsource (obtain goods or services from an outside supplier; to contract work out)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

source (a facility where something is available)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I thought I had found the source of your melancholy in a dream.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A invasive therapeutic procedure to destroy the tissue in the cardiac atria that is the source of an arrhythmia.

(Atrial Ablation, NCI Thesaurus)

This was the mouth of the cave and the source of light.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

To assign to a cause or source.

(Attribution, NCI Thesaurus)

Friends, family and faith may be sources of support.

(Bereavement, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

Proteins that originated from bacteria sources.

(Bacterial Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

He was considering her as the source of all the happiness they offered.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Essential fatty acids obtained from food sources that are necessary for normal biological functions, as well as growth and development.

(Omega-6 Fatty Acid, NCI Thesaurus)

O. anthropi has been isolated from water sources in is associated with nosocomial infections.

(Ochrobactrum anthropi, NCI Thesaurus)

Every sentence of kindness was a fresh source of happiness to Jane.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)