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Etymology and origin of the French word source

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1155, Wace
Inherited from
Latin *sursus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (surgō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /suʁs/[1]

Forms

source f (plural sources)[1] Old French sorse (about 1155) and surse (about 1190); the spelling source is found from about 1354.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sorse, the feminine, used as a noun, of sors, sours, the old past participle of sourdre “to spring up”.[4][2][5][3] That participle is inherited from Vulgar Latin *sursus, a popular form which had replaced classical Latin surrēctus, the past participle of surgō (“to rise, spring up”).[4][2][6] Old French also used the masculine participle, and sourt, for a spring until the middle of the 14th century,[2] and the present participle gave sorjon, later surgeon “sucker”.[2][5] Latin fōns (“spring”) gave Old French font, which survives in southern dialects (see fontaine).[2]

Bloch and Wartburg date the spelling with ⟨c⟩ to the 16th century.[5] Cognate with Italian sorgente “spring”, from the present participle of the same Latin verb.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace has sorse in the Roman de Rou (1170–1183) for water coming out of the ground and for the place where a stream rises.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century the word was used by metaphor for an origin: Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for “origin, principle” in 1174–1176,[4] and Gautier de Coinci about 1225 for a person from whom blessings flow.[4][2] The phrases prendre sa source (1607) and couler de source (1671, figuratively in 1688) followed.[4][2]

In the 16th and 17th centuries the figurative uses multiplied: the origin of a family (1538), the evidence on which a study is based (1623), with puiser aux sources (1635) and later tenir de bonne source (1876) for news from a reliable informant.[4][2] From 1633 it named what gives out light or heat, as in source de lumière (1686), source électrique (1885) and sources sonores (1930).[4] In economics it came to mean the origin of goods and income, and in tax law retenue à la source, tax deducted before the income is paid.[2]

Timeline

  • 1170–1183 – Sorse, a spring, in Wace's Roman de Rou.[4]
  • 1174–1176 – “Origin, principle”, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.[4]
  • c. 1225 – Of a person from whom good things flow, in Gautier de Coinci.[4]
  • c. 1354 – The spelling source.[2][3]
  • 1538 – “Origin of a family”, in Estienne.[4]
  • 1607 – Prendre sa source, in d'Urfé's L'Astrée.[4]
  • 1623 – “Testimony used as the basis of a study”.[4]
  • 1633 – A source of light and heat.[4]
  • 1671 – Couler de source.[4]
  • 1885 – Source électrique.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A spring: water coming out of the ground, and the place where it comes out: eau de source, source thermale.[9][10]
  2. The source of a river or stream, where it rises: prendre sa source.[9][10]
  3. (figurative) Origin, cause, principle: la source du mal, retour aux sources.[9][10]
  4. The original documents or texts a work relies on; the origin of a piece of news: citer ses sources, de source sûre.[10][11]
  5. (physics, technology) What emits light, heat, energy or sound: source de chaleur, source lumineuse.[4][2]
  6. Retenue à la source: withholding of tax before income is paid.[2]
  7. Couler de source: to follow naturally, to go without saying.[2][9]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 460a
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Source.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/source. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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