source
/suʁs/
The English word 'source' is translated into French as source.
source refers to the person, place or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired. You can use the phrase être source de to express that something is a source of something else, such as être source de problèmes (to be a source of problems). The related verb sourcer is an anglicism used in professional and business contexts to mean to obtain or procure a resource.
Meaning: the person, place or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired (noun)
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
While source is the standard term, you can use Origine in formal contexts to refer to the origin or the beginning of something and can imply the source of information or knowledge. In technical contexts regarding the documentation of the source of information or data, the term Provenance is used. For everyday conversations, the informal word Piste can be used to refer to a source of information or lead. In very casual speech, the colloquial term Tuyau means 'lead' or 'tip' and can be used informally to refer to a source of information.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural of source is sources.
How do you pronounce it?
/suʁs/
Did you know?
- The colloquial word for a tip or lead, tuyau, literally means 'pipe'.
- The word source shares a common ancestor with the English word 'surge', as both stem from the Latin 'surgere' meaning 'to rise'.
- Because of its Latin roots in 'sordre', the word source originally carried a much stronger connotation of water 'springing' or 'rising' from the earth.
Examples in context
- L'eau est source de vie.Water is a source of life.This sentence is useful for showing how to use source to describe a source of life.Tatoeba #4561953 by sacredceltic, translation #2834057 by Hybrid
- Le code source est libre.The source code is freely available.This sentence is useful for the technical use of source in the context of source code.Tatoeba #1339967 by sacredceltic, translation #11294659 by see
- L'article ne cite pas la source.The article doesn't cite the source.This sentence is useful for demonstrating how to use source when discussing citing information in an article.Tatoeba #8481137 by Aiji, translation #3435276 by AlanF_US
- Les chercheurs ont utilisé diverses ressources pour soutenir leurs recherches.The researchers used various sources to support their studies.
- Les historiens ont étudié les origines du langage pour comprendre leur source.Historians have studied the origins of language to understand their source.
- Chaque donnée doit être accompagnée d'une provenance claire et fiable.Each piece of data must be accompanied by a clear and reliable source.
- Julie m'a donné un bon tuyau pour trouver des informations sur le sujet.Julie gave me a good tip to find information on the subject.
- 86 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Léa are discussing a news article.
- NathanQuelle est la source de cette information ?What is the source of this information?
- LéaC'est une source très fiable, Nathan.It is a very reliable source, Nathan.
- NathanEst-ce que la source est anonyme ?Is the source anonymous?
- LéaNon, la source est mentionnée ici.No, the source is mentioned here.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “source” translations and entries source, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
