fons et origo
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin fōns et orīgō (literally “source and origin”).
Noun
- The source and origin.
- Athens was the fons et origo of democracy.
- 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, “Final Adjustment of the Leather Business”, in The Wrong Box, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 282:
- I seem to understand that this gentleman […] is the fons et origo of the trouble; and, from what I gather, he has already paid through the nose.
- 1942 December 31, Mahatma Gandhi, “Letter on New Year’s Eve: May the New Year bring peace to us [Letter to Lord Linlithgow]”, in R. L. Khipple, editor, Famous Letters of Mahatma Gandhi, Lahore: The Indian Printing Works, published 1947, page 132:
- Mention of other Congressmen in the same connection is by the way. I seem to be the fons et origo of all the evil imputed to the Congress. If I have not ceased to be your friend, why did you not, before taking drastic action, send for me, tell me of your suspicions and make yourself sure of your facts?
- 1976 March 27, F. Dudley Hart, “History of the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis”, in British Medical Journal, volume 1, number 6012, , →JSTOR, page 764:
- As dramatic cures were occasionally seen in rheumatoid arthritis after overwhelming near-fatal disease, and as a school of thought favoured the central nervous system as the fons et origo of rheumatoid arthritis, ECT and insulin coma were both tried.