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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

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

Speaking at the same event, the head of open-source messaging application Signal, Meredith Whittaker, warned about AI being controlled by a handful of billionaires, but urged the audience "don't buy the hype".

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

He advocated for a balance between progress and democracy, calling for more open-source AI agents.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

In a Thursday blog post, Nvidia touted open-source models as a way of making AI technology more accessible.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

Helped by lower infrastructure costs, policy support and open-source models, Chinese tech companies are accelerating AI investment and narrowing the gap with U.S. rivals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 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

“Beyond just what we release ourselves, we’re very strong advocates that open source should not be something that people try to restrict or lock down,” Zuckerberg told the officials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

And they're gaining additional interest at a time when the open source market is dominated by Chinese AI models like Qwen, DeepSeek and GLM.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

“I do not believe restricting access to foreign open source models is an effective solution. Our goal should be for American open source models to be the best globally,” said Zuckerberg.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

"I do not believe restricting access to foreign open source models is an effective solution," he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

I’d begun writing for a new website, Slashdot.org, an intensely geeky techno/pop-culture site devoted to the open source Linux operating system and to the open source and free software movements.

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