source

Word family

• sourcing
  nounC1
• outsource
  verbC1
• outsourcing
  nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to where something starts, but they differ in focus. Source is the broadest: it can be the physical starting point of a river (the source of the Nile), the person or thing that provides something useful (a source of funding), or the reason behind a situation (a source of conflict). Origin points more narrowly to the earliest point in time or the place where something was created — the origin of a tradition, the origin of a species. Root suggests a deep, fundamental cause, usually of something negative — the root of the problem, the root of all evil. Cause is the most direct: it names the person, event, or condition that makes something happen — the cause of the accident, the cause of the fire. If you are looking for the basic starting point, use source or origin. If you want to emphasise a deep underlying reason, use root. If you need to name what directly produces an effect, use cause.

Common collocations

Etymology

The word 'source' comes from Old French 'sourse' (meaning a rising up or a spring of water), which in turn came from the Latin verb 'surgere' (to rise or spring up). The original meaning referred to the spring where a river begins. By the 14th century, it had broadened to mean any starting point, and later came to refer to providers of information and evidence.