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• open-source
  open-source

  adjective

  pertaining to or denoting software whose source code is available free of charge to the public to use, copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute.
• open source
  open source

  noun

open-source

American  

[oh-puhn-sawrs, -sohrs] / ˈoʊ pənˈsɔrs, -ˈsoʊrs /

adjective

1. Computers. pertaining to or denoting software whose source code is available free of charge to the public to use, copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute.

2. pertaining to or denoting a product or system whose origins, formula, design, etc., are freely accessible to the public.

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open source British  

noun

1. 1. intellectual property, esp computer source code, that is made freely available to the general public by its creators

   2. ( as modifier ) Compare closed source

      open source software

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open-source Scientific  

1. Relating to source code that is available to the public without charge. Open-source code is often enhanced, improved, and adapted for specific purposes by interested programmers, with the revised versions of the code are made available to the public. For example, most of the code in the Linux operating system is open-source.

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Etymology

Origin of open-source

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

A "preview version" of the open source model is now available, the company said.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

That clashes with one of the primary features of open source, namely that anyone can build on it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

In a post External link introducing it, Zuckerberg said they plan to release increasingly advanced models that push the frontier of intelligence and capabilities, including new open source models.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

In the US, AI firms fiercely guard their intellectual property, but in China, there's been a greater "open source" approach.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

If anything, Jesse spends more time online now; the things that draw him there—games, weblogs, chat and messaging systems, open source operating programs—have become far more advanced and compelling.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz