Fountain Meaning
/ˈfaʊn.tɪn/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA natural source of water; a spring.
nounAn artificial, usually ornamental, water feature (usually in a garden or public place) consisting of one or more streams of water originating from a statue or other structure.
Sentence Examples
There is a fountain in front of the station.
The man was a fountain of knowledge.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The children played in the water of the park's ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The children enjoyed tossing coins into the ____ and making wishes for the upcoming year.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English [Term?]; from Old French fontaine (whence modern fontaine); from Late Latin fontana, from Latin fontanus, fontaneus, adjectives from fons (“source, spring”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A little fountaine became a riuer, and there was light, & the Sunne, and much water: this riuer is Eſther, whō the King married and made Queene."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 10:6:
"As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note."
— 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, →OL:
"They heard her rouse the sleeping servant, and with her enter the kitchen; then the noise of a fire being lighted and the fountain being filled came to the watchers."
— 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 208:
"Nothing will pleaſe ſome Men, but Books ſtuff’d with Antiquity, groaning under the weight of Learned Quotations drawn from the Fountains: And what is all this but Pilfering."
— 1700, Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London, page 5:
"My lighter moods are like to these,
That out of words a comfort win;
But there are other griefs within,
And tears that at their fountain freeze; […]"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 33:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The children played in the water of the park's ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The children enjoyed tossing coins into the ____ and making wishes for the upcoming year.