fount
UK[faʊnt]US[faʊnt]
n
A source of a desirable quality or commodity; a fountainhead.
n
(chiefly British, dated) A set of printing type of one style and size.
Etymology
The word 'fount' is a variant of 'font', which entered Middle English from Old French 'fonte', meaning 'a casting'. This Old French term derived from the Vulgar Latin 'font-', a stem related to Latin 'fundere', meaning 'to melt or cast'. The semantic journey is intriguing: from the literal act of pouring molten metal to create printing type, the meaning broadened metaphorically. By the late 16th century, it began to signify a 'source' or 'spring' (as if of poured water), influenced by the unrelated Latin 'fons' (genitive 'fontis'), meaning 'a spring or fountain'. Thus, 'fount' embodies a confluence of two Latin streams—one industrial ('fundere') and one natural ('fons')—to arrive at its modern abstract sense of an abundant source.
Analysis
The word 'fount' is a simplex word, a contraction and alteration of the earlier English word 'font'. It is not productively segmentable into smaller, meaningful morphemes within its current spelling.
Examples
She was considered a fount of wisdom by her students.
The ancient text is a fount of knowledge about forgotten customs.
The printer carefully selected letters from the fount of Caslon type.