wellspring

/ˌwɛlˈsprɪŋ/

Other forms: wellsprings

The underground spring that provides water to a well can be called a wellspring. You can also use wellspring to mean the plentiful source of things like good ideas or information.

If someone comments that you're a wellspring of jokes, they're using the word metaphorically, to mean that jokes seem to pour out of you like water from a spigot. Wellspring comes from the Old English welspryng, which had the literal "spring" meaning. When it's used figuratively, wellspring implies an infinite amount of something: "My dog is a wellspring of affection and stinky breath."

Definitions of wellspring

1. noun

   the source of water for a well
   synonyms: wellhead

   type of:

   beginning, origin, root, rootage, source

   the place where something begins, where it springs into being
2. noun

   an abundant source
   synonyms: fountainhead, well

   type of:

   source

   a document (or organization) from which information is obtained