Source may refer to:

Research

Historical document Historical documents are original documents that contain important historical information about a person, place, or event and can thus serve as primary sources as important ingredients of the historical methodology. Significant historical docume ...

* Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute or other record or document that gives information * Source document, a document in which data collected for a clinical trial is first recorded * Source text, in research (especially in the humanities), a source of information referred to by citation **

Primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was cre ...

, a first-hand written evidence of history made at the time of the event by someone who was present ** Secondary source, a written account of history based upon the evidence from primary sources ** Tertiary source, a compilation based upon primary and secondary sources * Sources (website), a directory of expert contacts and media spokespersons *

Open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

, a philosophy of dissemination of intellectual products

Law

* Sources of international law, the materials and processes out of which the rules and principles regulating the international community are developed *

Sources of law Sources of law are the origins of laws, the binding rules that enable any state to govern its territory. The terminology was already used in Rome by Cicero as a metaphor referring to the "fountain" ("fons" in Latin) of law. Technically, anything ...

, the materials and processes out of which law is developed

Mathematics and physics

* Sources and sinks a general mathematical analogy used in science * Source of a morphism * Source, a point where the

divergence In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the rate that the vector field alters the volume in an infinitesimal neighborhood of each point. (In 2D this "volume" refers to ...

of a vector field is positive * Source of a representation, in finite group theory * Source, a terminal in a field-effect transistor * Current source, an electrical or electronic device that delivers or absorbs electric current * Energy sources, substances or processes with high concentrations of energy * Ion source, a device that creates atomic and molecular ions * Light source, an object emitting light * Point source, a single identifiable localised source of something * Radioactive source, a known quantity of a radionuclide which emits ionizing radiation * Sound source, an object emitting

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

* Voltage source, any device or system that produces an electromotive force between its terminals

Computing and technology

* Source (command), a UNIX command to execute commands from a file *

Communication source A source or sender is one of the basic concepts of communication and information processing. Sources are objects which encode message data and transmit the information, via a channel, to one or more observers (or receivers). In the stricte ...

, objects which encode message data and transmit the information *

Source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...

, a file containing code for software written in a programming language * Source theory, any process that generates successive messages in

information theory Information theory is the mathematical study of the quantification (science), quantification, Data storage, storage, and telecommunications, communication of information. The field was established and formalized by Claude Shannon in the 1940s, ...

* Source (programming language), a family of sublanguages of JavaScript to support Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, JavaScript Adaptation

Earth and life sciences

* Inflow (hydrology), the source of the water in a lake * Source (hydrology), the original point from which a river or stream flows * Source rocks, rocks that have generated, or are capable of generating hydrocarbons * Source tissue, plant tissue serving as a source of nutrients; for example see Somatic embryogenesis

Art and entertainment

Fictional entities

* Source (comics), a sentient entity who provides advice to the New Gods in the DC Multiverse

Games

* Source (game engine), a game engine developed by Valve ** Source 2, the successor to Source * '' Counter-Strike: Source'', a 2004 complete remake of ''Counter-Strike'' using the Source game engine * '' Day of Defeat: Source'', a 2005 complete remake of ''Day of Defeat'' using the Source game engine

Music

* ''Source'' (album), a 2020 album by Nubya Garcia, or the title song * ''Source'', a 2003 album by the Duskfall * "Source", a song by Tycho from his 2016 album '' Epoch''

Periodicals

* ''Source'' (lifestyle magazine), a bi-monthly magazine published by the John Lewis Partnership * ''Source'' (photography magazine), a quarterly photography magazine * '' Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas'', published by the Shalom Hartman Institute

Visual arts

* ''Source'' (1/3), public artwork by U.S. artist Tony Smith

Organizations

* Source (UNSW), a community service provider that used to operate at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia * Source Family (1922–1975), a commune outside of 1970's Hollywood * Source Vagabond Systems, an Israeli manufacturer using the brand "SOURCE"

Places

* natural spring * headwaters * Les Sources (), Estrie, Quebec, Canada; a regional county municipality * Des Sources station (), Montreal, Quebec, Canada; a light rail station * Boulevard Des Sources (), Montreal, Quebec, Canada; a large street

Other uses

* Operation Source, a series of attacks on German warships in 1943 *

Absolute (philosophy) In philosophy (often specifically metaphysics), the absolute, in most common usage, is a perfect, self-sustainability, self-sufficient reality that depends upon nothing external to itself. In theology, the term is also used to designate the supre ...

, or the source, as the absolute principle of being