▪ I. source, n.
(sɔəs)
Forms: 4–5 sours, 5–6 surs, 5–7 sourse; 4– source (6 sowrce).
[a. OF. sors, *surs, *sours masc., and surse, sourse, source (mod.F. source) fem., substantival uses of the pa. pple. of sourdre to rise or spring: see sourd v.]
† 1. ‘A support or underprop’ (Gwilt). Obs.
| 1346 in J. T. Smith Antiq. Westm. (1807) 209 [In the works of the said chapel for sources to the images under the tabernacles... The columns placed..under the aforesaid sources.] 1359–60 Ely Sacr. Rolls II. 194 In stipend. Roberti Burwelle facientis Garguyles et ymagines pro sources ad le blakrode. |
† 2. a. Hawking. The act of rising on the wing, on the part of a hawk or other bird.
Obs.| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 544 Me fleynge in a swappe he hente, And with hys sours a-yene vp went. c 1386 ― Sompn. T. 230 Right as an hauk upon a sours Upspringeth into thaer, right so prayeres..Maken her sours to Goddis eeres tuo. 1513 Douglas æneid v. v. 21 [Ganymede] Quham, with a surs, swiftlie Jovis squyer Caucht in his clukis, and bair up in the air. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 127 The Sparowhawkes do vse to kill the fowle at the Sowrce or Souse as the Goshawkes do. 1612 Selden Illustr. Drayton's Poly-olb. v. D.'s Wks. 1876 I. 145 But the Goshawk, taken at the source by the Falcon, soon fell down at the King's foot. |
† b. The rising
of the sun.
Obs.| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1978 In-to Sessoyne he soughte..And at the surs of the sonne disseuerez his knyghttez. |
† c. An assault or attack.
Obs.| 1616 J. Lane Contn. Sqr.'s T. ix. 179 He gallantlie receavinge bothe theire sourse, and theie as resolutelie quittinge force. |
3. a. The fountain-head or origin of a river or stream; the spring or place from which a flow of water takes its beginning.
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's Prol. 49 Wher as the Poo out of a welle smal Takith his firste springyng and his sours. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilg. 21838 Ryht as a welle hath hys sours Vpward, with water quyk and cler. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 126 The flouds do gaspe, for dryed is theyr sourse. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxi. iii. 408 The head or source therof ariseth at the foot of the utmost mountains of the Pelignians. 1673 Temple Obs. United Prov. Wks. 1720 I. 7 He that would know the Nature of the Water,..must find out its Source, and observe with what Strength it rises. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 46 That River..takes its source about four days Journey from Mardin. 1738 Gray Tasso 51 Of many a flood they view'd the secret source. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) I. 86 All rivers have their source either in mountains or elevated lakes. 1808 Pike Sources Mississ. iii. App. 6 The river..may be about 1000 miles in length, from its sources to its discharges. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 9 Near the sources of the South Tyne and the Tees. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 20 The streams and springs from which a river is popularly said to take its rise are..only its proximate sources. |
| transf. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 104 The Spring, the Head, the Fountaine of your Blood Is stopt, the very Source of it is stopt. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. ix, The billow..That far to seaward finds his source. |
| attrib. 1881 Rep. Geol. Explor. New Zealand 135 The middle part of the Buckler Burn, before breaking up into its source-branches. 1899 Athenæum 28 Oct. 585/1 To control the source-region of the Nile. |
b. With
a and
pl. A spring; a fountain.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 102 b, Hit semed that hit had ben a sourse or sprynge rennyng oute of his body. 1596 Drayton Legends iii. 451 Like those that strive to stop some swelling Sourse. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 292 A source or standing Well. Ibid. viii. 373 Their Bestiall are watered with sources. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 199 There is, among others, a source of hot-water which hath the taste of Tin, and issues out of a Cave. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 24 Where trickling Streams distil From some penurious Source. 1820 Byron Juan iv. liv, Though sleeping like a lion near a source. 1855 Tennyson Letters v, Like torrents from a mountain source. 1856 Merivale Rom. Emp. xl. (1871) V. 19 In the time of Augustus seven aqueducts brought water from distant sources to Rome. |
| transf. 1589 Greene Menaphon Wks. (Grosart) VI. 43 Yet kissing the pretie infant, shee lightened out smiles from those cheekes that were furrowed with continual sources of teares. |
c. In
fig. contexts.
| 1581 T. Howell Deuises (1879) 205 Whose strayned hart in sowrce of sorrowe swymmes. 1609 Drayton Legend Cromwell 21 This was to me that ouerflowing sourse, From whence his bounties plentifully spring. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §6 No man can shew me a source from whence these waters of bitterness..have more probably flowed. 1754 Gray Pleasure 54 Near the source whence Pleasure flows. 1754 ― Progr. Poesy 94 This can..ope the sacred source of sympathetic Tears. 1835 T. Mitchell Acharn. of Aristoph. 479 note, The foundation of Megara was in itself a source of hostile feeling, which was never likely to be wholly dried up. |
4. fig. a. The chief or prime cause
of something of a non-material or abstract character; the quarter whence something of this kind originates.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1591 O swerd of knighthod, sours of gentilesse! 1390 Gower Conf. I. 46 Sche that is the Source and Welle Of wel or wo. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. 5469 Of knyȝthod grounde, of manhod sours & wel. 1613 J. Tapp Pathw. Knowledge 322 This Charracter √ signifieth the source, roote or beginning of any number or quantity whatsoeuer. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. i. §4 This source of ideas, every man has wholly in himself. 1760–2 Goldsm. Cit. W. iv, Pride seems the source not only of their national vices, but of their national virtues also. 1770 Junius Lett. xxxix. (1788) 220 The free election of our representatives..is the source and security of every right and privilege. 1831 Scott Cast. Dang. viii, It is my duty..to leave no stone unturned by which this business may be traced to the source. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. ii. §3. 77 Gases of an offensive odour, which are the source of annoyance to the neighbourhood. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost xii. 223 This intellectual perversion is the source of a systematic immorality. |
b. With
a,
this, etc., or
pl.| 1642 H. More Song of Soul i. ii. 147 All strength and livelyhood is from this sourse. 1718 Prior Knowledge 413 She is oblig'd and forced to see A First, a Source, a Life, a Deity. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. iii. Wks. 1813 I. 197 The sixth article remained the only source of contest and difficulty. 1824 R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 195 The many sources of consolation which were afforded by the circumstances. 1848 Dickens Dombey vii, Something or somebody had superseded him as a source of interest. 1861 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) II. viii. 559 One source of danger to which they had long been exposed was considerably lessened. |
c. The origin, or original stock,
of a person, family, etc.
| 1669 Dryden Tyrannic Love iv. i, And, thy full Term expir'd, without all Pain, Dissolve into thy Astral Source again. 1738 Gray Propertius iii. 58 [To] trace Back to its Source divine the Julian Race. 1748 ― Alliance 74 Conscious of the source from whence she springs. 1818 Byron Juan i. ix, He traced his source Through the most Gothic gentlemen of Spain. |
d. The originating cause or substance
of some material thing or physical agency.
| 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 257 He enquires into the source of the liquor amnii, and he explains..why this water is accumulated. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xii. (1842) 285 Some of the impure sources of potash and soda used in the arts. 1862 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (ed. 2) ix. 639 It is largely used in lamps as a source of light. |
e. A work, etc., supplying information or evidence (
esp. of an original or primary character) as to some fact, event, or series of these. Also, a person supplying information, an informant, a spokesman.
| 1788 Robertson Hist. Amer. Pref., The sources from which I have derived such intelligence. 1828 R. Burns Dissert. in Wodrow's Hist. Suff. I. p. ix, The testimony of historians.., and other published sources of evidence. 1848 Wornum Lect. Painting 114 note, This celebrated work is said, though not upon very authentic sources, to have been carried to Constantinople. 1882–3 Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. I. 501 The principal source to his life is Gregory of Tours. 1934 Webster s.v. source n., one who or that which supplies information. 1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet ii. i. 131 The Varners would know by now from the one incontrovertible source, the girl herself, that two of them were not guilty. a 1961 E. M. Mills in Webster s.v. 1source, Sources close to the chief executive report he is planning to request the Legislature to approve state purchase. 1973 Atlanta (Georgia) Jrnl. 19 Apr. 17a/1 Deputy White House press secretary Gerald Warren issued the following statement: ‘The White House is not prepared to react to a story based on sources.’ 1979 E. Newman Sunday Punch i. 3 He had pointed me in the direction of a couple of stories—he was a kindly man and, as a source, needed no special motivation. |
f. attrib., as (sense 4 e)
source book,
source data,
source document,
source material,
source study.
| 1899 A. B. Hart (title) *Source-book of American history. Ibid. p. xvii, The Source Book is meant to supplement, not to supplant the text-book. 1900 Univ. Corresp. 10 Feb. 93/1 We are very deficient in accessible source-books on this side of the Atlantic. 1948 L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 43 We rarely read their poems, Mere source-books now. 1961 J. D. Rosenberg Darkening Glass (1963) v. 101 ‘The Nature of Gothic’..is the source book for Unto This Last. 1974 Education & Community Relations Jan. 3 The researchers also included a question on what support teachers would welcome from external sources and seven ideas were suggested, i.e. in-service courses, teachers guides or source books, pupils books, films, TV lessons, radio lessons and visiting speakers. 1982 N. & Q. Dec. 535/2 Le Menagier de Paris has long been known as an invaluable sourcebook for practical details of everyday life in a reasonably prosperous middle-class household in France in the 1390s. |
| 1971 J. Howlett in B. de Ferranti Living with Computer ii. 17 The general principle is to..use it..as *source data for a whole series of studies. |
| 1920 A. J. Grieve in A. S. Peake Commentary on Bible 725 It has therefore been surmised that the writer has here incorporated an Aramaic (possibly Greek) *source-document. 1977 New Yorker 29 Aug. 35/2 Source documents, once put into computer-readable form, tend to become relatively inaccessible, and in some computer systems are even eliminated. |
| 1936 Time 21 Sept. 47/1 For most of their *source material the editors relied on second-rate writers. 1955 W. Moore Bring Jubilee xix. 182 It is not easy to see behind source material, to visualise state papers, reports, letters, diaries as written by men. 1978 Early Music Oct. 597/3 The discussion of the music combines a flair for words with great attention to stylistic interactions and the lessons to be learned from study of the source material. |
| 1964 English Studies XLV. 252 Even those readers least interested in *source-study are likely to have their notions of Shakespear's work made altogether more accurate. 1979 Studies in Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 3 Source study—by this is meant here not a mere source-hunting but a comparative study between words and their sources—is certainly rewarding so far as Confessio Amantis is concerned. |
5. a. Physics. A point or centre from which a fluid or current flows. More widely, any point where, or process by which, energy or some material component enters a physical system;
opp. sink n.1 8.
Freq. without
const., but otherwise not really distinct from sense 4 d.
| 1855, etc. [see sink n.1 8]. 1878 W. K. Clifford Elem. Dynamic, Kinem. 214 The point ς is called a source of strength µ when the fluid streams out in all directions; when µ is negative, so that the fluid streams inwards, it is called a sink. 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 258 If a source or a vortex exist at P{p}, there will be a source or a vortex of equal strength at P. 1885 Watson & Burbury Electr. & Magn. I. 216 The given equipotential regions are in such a case generally termed electrodes, and sometimes sources or sinks of electricity, according to the direction of the current flow from or towards them. 1926 H. Glauert Elem. Aerofoil & Airscrew Theory iii. 21 A sink is a negative source or a point at which fluid is disappearing. 1956 E. H. Hutten Lang. Mod. Physics iv. 139 The engine is in contact with two heat reservoirs (the boiler and condenser, or the source and sink of energy) at different temperatures. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth xix. 263/1 Boundaries at which the net effect of motion is to generate surface area are here termed sources. |
b. Electronics. (The material forming) the part of a unipolar transistor which corresponds in function to the cathode of a thermionic valve.
| 1952 [see gate n.1 8 h]. 1962 Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors viii. 173 The source and drain..are ohmic electrodes attached to the n-type body of the device [sc. a field-effect transistor]. 1977 Sci. Amer. Sept. 74/3 The inversion creates a continuous n-type channel from source to drain and large currents can flow. |
6. Comb., as (sense 4 e)
source-hunter,
source-hunting;
source-criticism Theol., analysis and study of the sources used by the authors of the biblical text; hence
source-critical a.;
source program Computers, a program written in a language other than machine code,
usu. a high-level language (
cf. object program s.v. object n. 10);
source rock Geol., a rock formation in which a particular mineral material originates;
spec. a deposit in which petroleum is formed.
| 1977 J. L. Houlden Patterns of Faith iii. 26 This is particularly true of the gospels of Matthew and Luke, where, according to the *source-critical orthodoxy.., visible alterations of the Markan basis could be observed. |
| 1901 J. Moffatt Historical New Testament App. 677 No method which neglects source-criticism can satisfactorily explain the doublets [in the Apocalypse]. 1931 K. E. Kirk Vision of God 498 An elaborate *source-criticism which must be adjudged..to be in the main based upon the theory, and therefore to involve a vicious circle. 1977 G. W. H. Lampe God as Spirit iv. 102 The Jesus whom historical research tries to reconstruct through the laborious processes of source criticism, form criticism, and redaction criticism. |
| 1964 D. Daiches Eng. Lit. iv. 82 An attempt to rescue literary study from the philologists and *source-hunters. |
| 1956 Canad. Forum June 67/1 His treatment of sources and analogues lacks the rigorous testing which we require of *source-hunting in literary studies after twenty years of sniping by new critics and old scholars alike. 1979 Source-hunting [see source study, sense 4 f]. |
| 1959 M. H. Wrubel Primer of Programming for Digital Computers vi. 129 The program can be corrected or modified at the *source program stage and reassembled. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xix. 304 Instead of machine instructions, the source program contains statements or symbolic instructions, which the computer then translates to an object program by means of a special program. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. iv. 158 A language compiler accepts as input a set of statements called a source program. |
| 1931 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists XV. 161 *Source rocks of petroleum include carbonaceous or ‘bituminous’ sedimentary deposits, containing aquatic plant and animal remains..and the products of their biochemical and geochemical alterations. 1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. xix. 352/1 Early borings at Kotuku..left little doubt that the oil at Kotuku comes from the Oligocene Cobden Limestone—though this does not necessarily mean that the Limestone is the source rock. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth xxii. 323/2 The concentration of diamond source-rocks in the older cratons. |
▸
source code n. Computing a code written in a high-level or assembly language, which is converted into object code by a compiler, assembler, or interpreter; a program in a source language (
cf. object code n. at
object n. Compounds 2).
| 1965 Communications ACM 8 665/2 The PUFFT source language listing provides a cross reference between the *source code and the object code. 1975 Austral. Computing Jrnl. July 78/1 Another potential hazard occurs when the programmer writes structured source code and the compiler generates unstructured assembler code. 1988 New Yorker 7 Nov. 41/3 The original programs, which are centrally produced, are commonly called ‘source codes’; only a few local governments own and control the source codes that are used in their jurisdictions. 1996 Web Developer Spring 9/3 When source code is compiled by javac, the Java compiler, the resulting file has a.class extension and is named after the class defined in the source code. 2000 ‘Dr. K.’ Compl. Hacker's Handbk. ii. 25 Now everyone can run an operating system with open source, running GNU tools that are equally open-source, modifying and changing the source code as we see fit. |
▪ II. source, v.1 Also 6–7
sourse.
[f. prec. or OF. sours-, pret. stem of sourdre sourd v.] † I. intr. 1. Of a bird of prey: To rise after seizing its quarry.
Obs.| 1513 Douglas æneid xi. xiv. 74 Evir the sarar this ern strenis his gryp,..Sammyn wyth hys wyngis soursand in the sky. |
2. To rise, surge, or boil up.
Obs.| 1594 Nashe Terrors of Night Wks. (Grosart) III. 257 Anie ouerboyling humour which sourseth hiest in our stomackes. |
3. To spring or take rise
from something.
Obs.| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuff Wks. (Grosart) V. 249 They..neuer leaue roaring it out..of the freedomes and immunities soursing from him. 1611 Cotgr., Sourcé, sourced, sprung or begun from. 1666 G. Harvey Morb. Angl. viii. 70 [Consumption] sourceth from an Ulcer in the Lungs. |
II. 4. trans. a. In
pass.,
to be sourced in, to originate in, to be based in; to mention as a source.
| 1941 W. C. Handy Father of Blues xxii. 298 Affinities that may be sourced in a common ultimate Oriental origin. 1972 ‘J. Godey’ Three Worlds of Johnny Handsome ii. 23 Mitchell became aware of a rumbling sound vaguely sourced in the floor. 1978 Maledicta 1977 I. 326 Over twenty of Mr. Tamony's scripts are sourced in H. L. Mencken's American Language, Supplements 1 and 2. 1982 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Dec. 1394/1, I also drew on a scientific paper discussing Vittoz's work by the Chicago psychoanalyst, Dr Harry Trosman, which is sourced in my notes. |
b. To obtain from a specified source;
spec. of components (for a vehicle). Chiefly in
pa. pple.| 1972 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Feb. 1/5 Ford works on stripped⁓down cars, called ‘Asian Model Ts’ that could be sourced and assembled anywhere in Asia. 1980 Times 20 Mar. 27/5 One component manufacturer said last night: ‘Our indications are that less than 10 per cent of the Bounty [sc. a new car] will be sourced in the United Kingdom.’ 1981 Times 6 Feb. 18/2 Counterfeited goods, largely sourced from south east Asia..have mainly been finding their way into British export markets. Ibid. 15 Aug. 15/4 British manufacturers..have stressed that Nissan should source at least 80 per cent of the contents of the cars it plans to make in the United Kingdom in Europe. |
Hence
† ˈsourcing ppl. a. Obs.;
ˈsourcing vbl. n.,
spec. the obtaining of goods and components from a specified or understood source.
| a 1660 Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) II. 117 Like a bankroute or shipe lost on the continent by the furie of sourcinge waves. 1960 Business Week 2 Jan. 67/3 Businessmen now refer to imports from foreign plants as ‘sourcing’—a term that until recently referred to company purchases from a domestic supplier. 1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 15 Mar. 14/5 There is a growing tendency toward foreign ‘sourcing’, the purchase or production of finished goods or components abroad. 1970 Daily Tel. 1 Oct. 2/2 Ford, British Leyland and other manufacturing companies has had to resort to ‘dual sourcing’ for some components because of this year's unprecedented run of major supplier strikes. 1972 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Feb. 1/5 Experience under the U.S.-Canadian auto pact and in the Common Market has emboldened Detroit to expand multi-national sourcing of parts and components. |
▪ III. † source, v.2 Obs.—1 [Alteration of souse v.1] trans. To submerge, plunge, souse.
| 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 113 Apollo..Taking his dayly..course, His fiery head in Thetis watry brest, Three hundred sixty & five times doth source. |