fountainhead

[ foun-tn-hed ]

noun

1. a fountain or spring from which a stream flows; the head heads or source of a stream.
2. a chief source of anything:

   a fountainhead of information.

fountainhead

/ ˈfaʊntɪnˌhɛd /

noun

1. a spring that is the source of a stream
2. a principal or original source

Word History and Origins

Origin of fountainhead¹

First recorded in 1575–85; fountain + head

Example Sentences

Though he balked his first fiddle contest, he kept trying, even joining Monroe, the bluegrass fountainhead, onstage at age 9.

From New York Times

The fountainhead of American bohemia, Greenwich Village has always departed from the straight and narrow.

From New York Times

The Endless, anthropomorphized personifications of human ideas, beliefs and states of being, already serves as a fountainhead of clever metaphorical narratives.

From New York Times

Muslims attached to the Gyanvapi mosque said the court-appointed surveyors had mistaken a fountainhead in the water tank as a Hindu idol and motifs were flowers embedded in Persian design.

From Reuters

Surveyors involved in the Varanasi case said they found a large relic of the Hindu god Shiva inside the Gyanvapsi mosque, but Muslim groups said that a fountainhead was being misrepresented to stir religious tension.

From Reuters