open-source

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

adjective

Computers. pertaining to or denoting software whose source code is available free of charge to the public to use, copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute.
pertaining to or denoting a product or system whose origins, formula, design, etc., are freely accessible to the public.

Words nearby open-source

open shop, open side, open-sided, open sight, open slather, open-source, open space, open-stack, open stance, open-standard, open stock
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for open-source

British Dictionary definitions for open-source

open source

noun

  1. intellectual property, esp computer source code, that is made freely available to the general public by its creators
  2. (as modifier)open source software Compare closed source
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for open-source

open-source

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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.