source
     n 1: 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" [syn: {beginning}, {origin}, {root}, {rootage}]
     2: a person who supplies information [syn: {informant}]
     3: 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" [syn: {reference}]
     4: a document (or organization) from which information is
        obtained; "the reporter had two sources for the story"
     5: a facility where something is available
     6: anything that provides inspiration for later work [syn: {seed},
         {germ}]
     7: someone who originates or causes or initiates something; "he
        was the generator of several complaints" [syn: {generator},
         {author}]
     8: (technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters
        a system; "a heat source"; "a source of carbon dioxide"
        [ant: {sink}]
     9: 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"
        [syn: {reservoir}]
     v 1: get (a product) from another country or business; "She
          sourced a supply of carpet"; "They are sourcing from
          smaller companies"
     2: specify the origin of; "The writer carefully sourced her
        report"
Source: WordNet® 2.0

source n. [very common] In reference to software, `source' is
   invariably shorthand for `source code', the preferred human-readable and
   human-modifiable form of the program. This is as opposed to object code,
   the derived binary executable form of a program. This shorthand readily
   takes derivative forms; one may speak of "the sources of a system" or of
   "having source".


Source: The Jargon File