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Source vs Original - What's the difference?

source | original |

As nouns the difference between source and original

is that source is the person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired while original is an object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived.

As a verb source

is to obtain or procure: used especially of a business resource.

As an adjective original is

relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.

source

English

(wikipedia source)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The person, place or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black)
  • , title=Internal Combustion, chapter=2 citation , passage=More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}
  • Spring; fountainhead; wellhead; any collection of water on or under the surface of the ground in which a stream originates.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= John Vidal
  • , volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas , passage=Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources . Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.}}
  • A reporter's informant.
  • (computing) Source code.
  • (electronics) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  • Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    * sourceless * source code * primary source * secondary source * tertiary source

    See also

    * target

    Verb

  • (chiefly, US) To obtain or procure:
  • To find information about (a quotation)'s source (from which it comes): to find a citation for.
  • Derived terms

    * (mainly US) sourcing * (mainly US) insourcing * (mainly US) outsourcing

    Anagrams

    * ----

    original

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (label) Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1944, author=(w)
  • , title= The Three Corpse Trick, chapter=5 , passage=The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.}}
  • (label) First in a series or copies/versions.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, […].}}
  • (label) Newly created.
  • (label) Fresh, different.
  • (label) Pioneering.
  • (label) Having as its origin.
  • Synonyms

    * (first in series ) initial * autograph * prototype

    Antonyms

    * copy * derivative * reproduction * simile

    Derived terms

    * originally * original sin

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived
  • This manuscript is the original
  • A person with a unique and interesting personality and/or creative talent
  • You’re an original
  • (archaic) An eccentric
  • Synonyms

    * autograph * prototype

    Antonyms

    * copy * remake * reproduction

    Statistics

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