A Source Is Something That Rises
A source is where something begins. The Latin root means to rise, and it also produced surge, resource and resurrection.
A source is the place or thing something comes from. The image underneath is water: Latin *surgere*, to rise, described a spring rising out of the ground, and the word for the spring became the word for any origin. The same verb produced *surge*, *resurgence*, *resource* and *resurrection* — all of them about something coming up again.
- A point of origin. *The source of the Nile.*
- A person supplying information. *A source close to the minister.*
- A document used as evidence. *Primary sources.*
- Verb, to obtain. *Locally sourced produce.*
- Source code — the readable form of a program. *Open source code.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | source | A reliable source. |
| Plural | sources | Multiple sources. |
| Verb | source | Source it locally. |
| Adjective | sourced | Ethically sourced. |
| Related | resource | Natural resources. |
- Every claim needs a source.Research.
- The paper cited two anonymous sources.Journalism.
- The ingredients are sourced within thirty miles.The verb, modern.
Primary, secondary, tertiary
- Primary — direct evidence: a letter, a photograph, a dataset
- Secondary — someone else's analysis of primary material
- Tertiary — summaries of summaries: encyclopedias, textbooks
- Why it matters — the further from the primary source, the more can be lost
- Good practice — follow a claim back to where it starts
Old French *sourse*, a spring or rise, from the past participle of *sourdre*, from Latin *surgere*, to rise. English has had it since the 1300s; the verb is much more recent.
Are source and surge related?
Yes. Both come from Latin surgere, to rise. A source is water rising; a surge is anything rising suddenly.
What is a primary source?
Direct evidence from the time or event itself, rather than someone's later account of it.