the.com/wellspring
the place where water decides it's done hiding underground and goes public
means A wellspring is the original source of a stream or river — and, by extension, the deep origin from which something flows abundantly, like a wellspring of ideas or hope.
from A plain English compound, joining "well" (Old English wella, a spring or fountain) with "spring" (Old English springan, to leap or burst forth). Both halves describe water doing the same thing — rising up and breaking the surface — so a wellspring is something of a happy redundancy: a spring that springs, water leaping up to announce itself. The figurative sense, a source of plenty, has flowed alongside the literal one for centuries.
- origin word
- Old English meaning the source of a stream
- pressure born
- groundwater rises where the water table meets the surface
- first cities
- ancient settlements clustered around reliable spring sources
- never empty
- true wellsprings flow whether it rains or not
- sacred status
- countless cultures declared springs holy and healing
the wellspring of life — term used by ecologists for the amazon rainforest, which produces ~20% of world's oxygen
chalice well — red spring in glastonbury, england believed since medieval times to be a spiritual wellspring
jackson hole mountain resort — built around natural hot springs in wyoming that were a wellspring for native americans and settlers