Meaning

noun the place where something begins, where it springs into being

noun a document (or organization) from which information is obtained

noun anything that provides inspiration for later work

originFrom Middle English sours, from Old French sorse (“rise, beginning, spring, source”), from sors, past participle of sordre, sourdre, from Latin surgō (“to rise”), which is composed of sub- (“up from below”) + regō (“lead, rule”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-. Doublet of surge.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0