fountain

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fountain/ˈfaʊntən/

▶noun

• 1 an ornamental structure in a pool or lake from which one or more jets of water are pumped into the air.

• 2 literary or S. African a natural spring of water.

• 3 a source of something desirable.

• 4 Heraldry a circle with wavy horizontal stripes of blue and white.

▶verb spurt or cascade like a fountain.

– origin ME: from OFr. fontaine, from late L. fontana, fem. of L. fontanus, from fons, font- ‘a spring’.