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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

See Examples For:

open-source open source

The Kimi K3 model has 2.8 trillion parameters dictating its decision-making and is the world’s biggest open-source model, according to the Beijing-based AI startup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Its arrival later this month will make it the world's first open-source model in the three-trillion-parameter class that can be freely downloaded, run and customised by outside developers.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Beijng-based Moonshot AI said Kimi K3 was the world's first open-source model of its size.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

The release Friday of a new model from China’s Moonshot AI-whose Kimi K3 claims to outperform some cutting-edge U.S. systems with 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the world’s biggest open-source model-added to concerns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

At the moment, he had NT 5, NT 4, Work Station, Windows 98, and he and Eric had begun fooling around with Linux, the complex, open-source software system rapidly spreading across the world.

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

Proton VPN’s apps are fully open source, allowing independent security verification, with the fourth annual no-logs audit completed by Securitum in August 2025.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

Footage analysed by BBC Verify and online by GeoConfirmed open source analysts shows burned-out shells of container lorries and other military vehicles at multiple locations along a key route through southern Ukraine.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

To investigate, the team used an open source simulation tool called AM3 to model realistic blazar populations.

From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026

This has been partly driven by DeepSeek's decision to make its systems open source, with their inner workings public -- in contrast to the proprietary models sold by OpenAI and other Western rivals.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

Most of the actionable intelligence the National Security Agency and CIA scoop comes from open source information.

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin