fountainhead

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: foun=tain=head

CIDE DICTIONARY

fountainhead, n. 

•  an abundant source.  [WordNet 1.5]
•  the source of water from which a stream arises.  [WordNet 1.5]

THESAURUS

fountainhead

font, fount, fountain, head, headspring, headstream, headwater, headwaters, inception, mainspring, mine, origin, provenance, provenience, quarry, riverhead, root, source, spring, springhead, well, wellhead, wellspring, whence

ROGET THESAURUS

fountainhead

Cause

N cause, origin, source, principle, element, occasioner, prime mover, primum mobile, vera causa, author, mainspring, agent, leaven, groundwork, foundation, spring, fountain, well, font, fountainhead, spring head, wellhead, fons et origo, genesis, descent, remote cause, influence, pivot, hinge, turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum, key, proximate cause, causa causans, straw that breaks the camel's back, ground, reason, reason why, why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation, final cause, les dessous des cartes, undercurrents, rudiment, egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule, radicle, semen, sperm, nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed, causality, causation, origination, production, caused, causal, original, primary, primitive, primordial, aboriginal, protogenal, radical, embryonic, embryotic, in embryo, in ovo, seminal, germinal, at the bottom of, connate, having a common origin, because, behind the scenes, causa latet vis est notissima, felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.