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source

Pronunciation: /sɔːs/
Translate source | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of source

noun

  • 1a place, person, or thing from which something originates or can be obtained:mackerel is a good source of fish oil
  • a spring or fountain head from which a river or stream issues:the source of the Nile
  • a person who provides information:military sources announced a reduction in strategic nuclear weapons
  • a book or document used to provide evidence in research: a historian will need to use both primary and secondary sources
  • 2 technical a body or process by which energy or a particular component enters a system: major sources and sinks exist for atmospheric oxygenThe opposite of sink2.
  • Electronics a part of a field-effect transistor from which carriers flow into the inter-electrode channel.

verb

[with object]
  • obtain from a particular source:each type of coffee is sourced from one country
  • find out where (something) can be obtained:she was called upon to source a supply of carpet

Phrases

at source

at the point of origin or issue:reduction of pollution at source
used to show that a sum is deducted from earnings or other payments before they are made:your pension contribution will be deducted at source

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French sours(e), past participle of sourdre 'to rise', from Latin surgere

source in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of source in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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