different between source vs seed

English

Etymology

From Middle English sours, from Old French sorse (“rise, beginning, spring, source”), from sors, past participle of sordre, sourdre, from Latin surg? (“to rise”). See surge.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /s??s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /s??s/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /so(?)?s/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /so?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s
• Homophone: sauce (non-rhotic accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Noun

source (plural sources)

1. The person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired.
2. Spring; fountainhead; wellhead; any collection of water on or under the surface of the ground in which a stream originates.
3. A reporter's informant.
4. (computing) Source code.
5. (electronics) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

Synonyms

• wellspring

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• resource

Translations

See also

• target

Verb

source (third-person singular simple present sources, present participle sourcing, simple past and past participle sourced)

1. (chiefly US) To obtain or procure: used especially of a business resource.
2. (transitive) 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

Translations

Further reading

• source in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• source in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• 'course, Couser, Crouse, Crusoe, cerous, coures, course, crouse

French

Etymology

From Old French sorse (“rise, beginning, spring, source”), from sors, past participle of sordre, sourdre, from Latin surgere (“to rise”). See surge.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /su?s/

Noun

source f (plural sources)

1. source, spring (of water)

Derived terms

• code source
• couler de source
• eau de source
• langue source

Descendants

• ? Romanian: surs?

Verb

source

1. inflection of sourcer:
   1. first-person singular/third-person singular present indicative/present subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “source” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• coeurs, cœurs
• coures
• course, coursé
• écrous

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: s?d, IPA^(key): /si?d/
• Rhymes: -i?d
• Homophones: cede, sede

Etymology 1

From Middle English seed, sede, side, from Old English s?d, s?d (“seed, that which is sown”), from Proto-Germanic *s?diz (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh?tis (corresponding to Proto-Germanic *s?an? (“to sow”) + *-þiz), from *seh?- (“to sow, throw”). Cognate with West Frisian sied (“seed”), Dutch zaad (“seed”), Low German Saad (“seed”), German Saat (“sowing; seed”), Icelandic sæði (“seed”), Danish sæd (“seed”), Swedish säd (“seed”), Latin satio (“seeding, time of sowing, season”). More at sow.

Alternative forms

• sede (obsolete)

Noun

seed (countable and uncountable, plural seeds)

1. (countable, botany) A fertilized and ripened ovule, containing an embryonic plant.
3. (countable) Any small seed-like fruit.

4. (countable, agriculture) Any propagative portion of a plant which may be sown, such as true seeds, seed-like fruits, tubers, or bulbs.
5. (uncountable, collective) An amount of seeds that cannot be readily counted.

6. (countable) A fragment of coral.
7. (uncountable) Semen.
   • 1611, King James Version, Leviticus 15:16:

     And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.

8. (countable, figuratively) A precursor.

   Synonym: germ

9. (countable) The initial state, condition or position of a changing, growing or developing process; the ultimate precursor in a defined chain of precursors.
   1. The initial position of a competitor or team in a tournament. (seed position)

      The team with the best regular season record receives the top seed in the conference tournament.

   2. The competitor or team occupying a given seed. (seed position)

      The rookie was a surprising top seed.

   3. Initialization state of a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG). (seed number)

      If you use the same seed you will get exactly the same pattern of numbers.

   4. Commercial message in a creative format placed on relevant sites on the Internet. (seed idea or seed message)

      The latest seed has attracted a lot of users in our online community.

10. (now rare) Offspring, descendants, progeny.

    the seed of Abraham
11. Race; generation; birth.
    • a. 1687, Edmund Waller, To Zelinda

      Of mortal seed they were not held.

12. A small bubble formed in imperfectly fused glass.

Usage notes

1-3

The common use of seed differs from the botanical use. The “seeds” of sunflowers are botanically fruits.

Hyponyms

• crack seed

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

seed (third-person singular simple present seeds, present participle seeding, simple past and past participle seeded)

1. (transitive) To plant or sow an area with seeds.

2. (transitive) To cover thinly with something scattered; to ornament with seedlike decorations.
3. (transitive) To start; to provide, assign or determine the initial resources for, position of, state of.

4. (sports, gaming) To allocate a seeding to a competitor.
5. (Internet, transitive) To leave (files) available for others to download through peer-to-peer file sharing protocols (e.g. BitTorrent).
6. (intransitive) To be qualified to compete, especially in a quarter-final, semi-final, or final.

7. (intransitive) To produce seed.
8. (intransitive) To grow to maturity.
9. (slang, vulgar) To ejaculate inside the penetratee during intercourse, especially in the rectum.

Derived terms

• overseed
• self-seed

Translations

Etymology 2

see +? -d (“past tense suffix; variant of -ed”).

Verb

seed

1. (dialectal) simple past tense and past participle of see

Anagrams

• EDES, dees, dese, sede