# source

/ˈsɔɹs/ (US) · /sˈɔːs/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/source
Updated: 2026-07-22

## Senses

### 1. origin of something

noun · CEFR A2

the place, person, or thing that something comes from.

For teachers: the point of origin or provenance from which something is obtained or initiated.

- The sun is our primary source of light and heat.
- The investigation aimed to identify the primary source of the contamination that had affected the local water supply for several months.

### 2. information or research

noun · CEFR B1 · Academic

a book, person, or document that provides information.

For teachers: a document, person, or publication that provides information or evidence for research or news reporting.

- You must list every source you used at the end of your essay.
- The journalist refused to name her source, citing a professional obligation to protect the whistleblower's identity from public exposure.

### 3. start of a river

noun · CEFR B1

the place where a river or stream begins.

For teachers: the fountainhead or spring from which a stream or river originates.

- The explorers spent weeks searching for the source of the Nile.
- High in the mountains, the source of the river is nothing more than a small, bubbling spring hidden beneath the rocks.

### 4. computing/code

noun · CEFR B2 · Technical

the original instructions written by a programmer.

For teachers: the human-readable instructions written by a programmer before being compiled into machine code.

- The developer shared the source on a public website for others to use.
- The company decided to release the software's source under an open-license agreement to encourage community-driven improvements and security audits.

### 5. electronics terminal

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

one of the three parts of a special type of transistor.

For teachers: the terminal of a field-effect transistor (FET) through which the majority carriers enter the channel.

- The technician checked the voltage at the source of the transistor.
- In a typical n-channel MOSFET configuration, the source is often connected to the circuit ground to provide a reference potential.

### 6. to obtain goods

verb · CEFR B2

to find out where to get something and buy it from there.

For teachers: to find or acquire something from a particular supplier or origin, especially in a business context.

- The restaurant tries to source all its vegetables from local farms.
- The manufacturer struggled to source high-grade lithium due to recent disruptions in the global supply chain.

### 7. to provide references

verb · CEFR C1 · Academic · Formal

to show where information or a quote came from.

For teachers: to provide or find a citation for a piece of information or a quotation.

- The article was well-written but it was not properly sourced.
- Academic integrity requires that every claim in the dissertation be meticulously sourced to avoid any suspicion of plagiarism.

## Examples

- The sun is our main source of energy.
- The journalist refused to name her source for the story about the new city law.
- Historians must carefully evaluate each primary source to determine its reliability before drawing conclusions about the social climate of the era.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.