SOURCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does source mean? 

• SOURCE (noun)
  The noun SOURCE has 9 senses:

1. the place where something begins, where it springs into being

2. a document (or organization) from which information is obtained

3. anything that provides inspiration for later work

4. a facility where something is available

5. a person who supplies information

6. someone who originates or causes or initiates something

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

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

9. a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to

  Familiarity information: SOURCE used as a noun is familiar.

• SOURCE (verb)
  The verb SOURCE has 2 senses:

1. get (a product) from another country or business

2. specify the origin of

  Familiarity information: SOURCE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOURCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The place where something begins, where it springs into being

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

beginning; origin; root; rootage; source

Context example:

communism's Russian root

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"):

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

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)

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 2

Meaning:

A document (or organization) from which information is obtained

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the reporter had two sources for the story

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 3

Meaning:

Anything that provides inspiration for later work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

germ; seed; source

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 4

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"):

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

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

Derivation:

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

Sense 5

Meaning:

A person who supplies information

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

informant; source

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 6

Meaning:

Someone who originates or causes or initiates something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

author; generator; source

Context example:

he was the generator of several complaints

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 7

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Context example:

a source of carbon dioxide

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)

Sense 8

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

reservoir; source

Context example:

an infectious agent depends on a reservoir for its survival

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

thing (a separate and self-contained entity)

Sense 9

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

reference; source

Context example:

he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation

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

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

Derivation:

source (specify the origin of)

• SOURCE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they source    ... he / she / it sources   
Past simple: sourced   
Past participle: sourced   
-ing form: sourcing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get (a product) from another country or business

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

They are sourcing from smaller companies

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Specify the origin of

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

The writer carefully sourced her report

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)

 Context examples 

There was but one of his children who was not at this time a source of misery to him.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Drylands are the main sources of Earth's atmospheric dust.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)

The process by which a biomaterial is created (from source biomaterials).

(Biomaterial Treatment, NCI Thesaurus)

The nature of the point-like source on the lower left is unknown.

("Mini Supernova" Explosion Could Have Big Impact, NASA)

When we came to the discussion of the sequence of our efforts and of the disposition of our forces, there were new sources of doubt.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The source of the smoke must be very close to Wolf Larsen—my mind was made up to this, and I went straight to his bunk.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

M. peregrinum is found in soil and water-related sources and is related to surgical site and catheter related infections.

(Mycobacterium peregrinum, NCI Thesaurus)

Yolks are also one of the only natural sources of vitamin D.

(Eggs No Longer Part of a Healthy Diet?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

You have gained a new source of enjoyment, and it is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

This solution was a source of pleasure.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)