anything that provides inspiration for later work;
a document (or organization) from which information is obtained; "the reporter had two sources for the story";
a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation";
the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism''s Russian root";
anything (a person or animal or plant or substance) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies; "an infectious agent depends on a reservoir for its survival";
someone who originates or causes or initiates something; "he was the generator of several complaints";
a person who supplies information;
(technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system; "a heat source"; "a source of carbon dioxide";
specify the origin of; "The writer carefully sourced her report";
get (a product) from another country or business; "She sourced a supply of carpet"; "They are sourcing from smaller companies";