source

\suʁs\

/\suʁs\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“source” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #662 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#662
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Point d’émergence naturelle d’eau, généralement souterraine, à la surface du sol.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

source vs sure
67% similar
source vs sucé
50% similar
source vs sourd
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for source
PropertyValue
Headwordsource
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\suʁs\
Letters6
Frequency rank#662
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “source” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). source lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for source is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \suʁs\. Corpus data places it at rank #662 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for source, with forms such as "osurce", "soruce", and "soucre". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sure", "sucé", "sourd", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is source, spelled S-O-U-R-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Point d’émergence naturelle d’eau, généralement souterraine, à la surface du sol.
  2. 2
    Point d’où s’écoule un liquide ou un gaz naturel.
  3. 3
    Point ou objet à l’origine d’un rayonnement lumineux, thermique ou d’une émission sonore.
  4. 4
    Zone ou phénomène à l’origine d’un apport particulier (chaleur, humidité, pollution).
  5. 5
    Origine, cause, principe ou point de départ d’un phénomène, d’une action ou d’une idée.
  6. 6
    Matière, appareil ou installation émettant des rayonnements ionisants ou contenant des substances radioactives.
  7. 7
    Référence ou indication de l’origine d’une information ou d’une citation.
  8. 8
    Ensemble des documents représentés sur la carte et éventuellement des autres informations portées sur elle.
  9. 9
    Code source ou donnée d’origine utilisée par un programme ou un système.
  10. 10
    Fasce ondée (bande horizontale formant des vagues) traversant en un nombre défini de fois la surface d’une fontaine héraldique.
  11. 11
    Dans un graphe orienté, sommet dont le degré entrant est nul.

Synonyms

fontainesourcelet

This word in other languages

spring(English)fuente(Español)Born(Deutsch)fonte(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: osurce,soruce,soucre,sourcce,sourec,sourrce,ssource,suorce

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of source - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

osurce2soruce2soucre2sourcce1sourec2sourrce1ssource1suorce2
Edit distance from "source"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "source"?
"source" is spelled S-O-U-R-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \suʁs\.
What does "source" mean?
As a noun, "source" means: Point d’émergence naturelle d’eau, généralement souterraine, à la surface du sol.
What words are commonly confused with "source"?
"source" is commonly confused with "sure", "sucé", "sourd". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "source"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "source" is \suʁs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "source" come from?
"source" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “source”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is S-O-U-R-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \suʁs\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “sure” - see the side-by-side comparison. source vs sure
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list