Textual thesaurus for "source"

(noun) germ, seed

anything that provides inspiration for later work

(noun) reference

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

(noun) root, rootage, beginning, origin

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

(noun) reservoir

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

(noun) generator, author

someone who originates or causes or initiates something

he was the generator of several complaints

(noun) informant

a person who supplies information