Make Your Point > Archived Issues > FOUNTAINHEAD

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connect today's word to others: A fountainhead is essentially the same thing as a w___s___ng. Both are an abundant source of something--something like news, information, wisdom, progress, conflict, or violence. You might pick that second word instead of fountainhead if you want to avoid giving people flashbacks to Ayn Rand's philosophical novel The Fountainhead. It's one of those books that everybody knows, and everybody seems to either love it or hate it. Why is our word in the title of Rand's book? If I understand it correctly, it's because one of her themes is that an individual person, not a group, serves as a fountainhead of progress and achievement in society.  (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "FOUNTAINHEAD" A literal fountainhead is the source of a stream: the place where the stream begins and flows out. A figurative fountainhead is the main source of something that seems to flow out continuously. Pronunciation: FOUN tun hed Part of speech: Countable noun. (Countable nouns, like "bottle," "piece," and "decision," are words for things that can be broken into exact units. You talk about "a bottle," "three pieces," and "many decisions." Likewise, talk about one fountainhead or multiple fountainheads.) Other common forms: None. In older texts you might see it written with a hyphen, "fountain-head," or as two words, "fountain head." How to use it: Talk about a person, place, or thing being a fountainhead of something (or the fountainhead of something). "Aretha Franklin remains a fountainhead of soul." "Our nation's universities are the fountainhead of free thought." "Some analysts consider Saudi Arabia the fountainhead of Islamist terrorism." You might say that people hail someone as a fountainhead of something, that people trace something back to its fountainhead, or that things flow or derive from their fountainhead. Did you notice how the tone of this word can be either positive or negative? We can talk about fountainheads of wonderful things: joy, hope, progress. Or terrible things: hatred, misinformation, violence. examples: Although I understand that people--perhaps millions of them--hail Tony Robbins as a fountainhead of wisdom, I find his methods unsettling. Investigators are still tracing the flow of fake news back to its fountainhead. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "fountainhead" means when you can explain it without saying "ample source" or "copious supplier." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "I'll never tire of (someone's) company. (He/she) is a fountainhead of (joy, warmth, humor, wisdom, enjoyment, playfulness, etc.)" Example: "I'll never tire of Taylor's company. She is a fountainhead of vitality." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing with some beautifully worded passages from the Bible as we recall words we've studied before. From our previous issue: "Whatever in the water does not have fins and scales is ab_____ to you." (New American Standard Bible, Leviticus, chapter 11, verse 12.) What's the missing word? It means "disgusting, horrible, shudder-inducing, and deserving of hate." Answer: abhorrent. Try this today: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, modest, b_______nt, full of mercy and of good fruits, not judgmental, unfeigned." (Jubilee Bible, James, chapter 3, verse 17.) What's the missing word? It means "actively kind and helpful toward other people." review today's word: 1. A close opposite of FOUNTAINHEAD is A. PEDAL. B. VACUUM. C. INVOCATION. 2. Grandmother and Granddad's _____ was a fountainhead _____. A. modest Christmas tree .. and small enough to store, fully decorated, in a closet B. most memorable vacation .. with no GPS, no carefully planned agenda C. sturdy round kitchen table .. of laughter and conversation Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C