fountainhead

noun

foun·tain·head ˈfau̇n-tᵊn-ˌhed

: a spring that is the source of a stream

: principal source : origin

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In Walden, widely considered Henry David Thoreau’s masterwork, the poet-philosopher extolled one major—nay, transcendent—perk of being an early bird: “Morning air! If men will not drink of this at the fountainhead of the day, why, then, we must even bottle up some and sell it in the shops, for the benefit of those who have lost their subscription ticket to morning time in this world.” Thoreau was using fountainhead in its figurative sense—referring to morning as the “origin” of the day to follow—while also paying homage to its literal meaning, “the source of a stream” (the earliest sense of fountain being “a natural spring”). As someone who spent two years living, writing, and meditating in a cabin, Thoreau was nothing, after all, if not thorough.

Examples of fountainhead in a Sentence

the fountainhead of the faith historically, California has served as the fountainhead of that eclectic group of self-actualization movements known as the New Age

Recent Examples on the Web

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In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. —Kristan Hawkins, Newsweek, 6 Feb. 2025 This suggests that Americans will witness more than Band-Aid fixes, that with his election mandate and a Republican majority in Congress, Trump will overhaul the education system into a fountainhead of moral and academic excellence. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 13 Nov. 2024