fountain

What it means

1. originallyA natural source of water; a spring.

   A little fountaine became a riuer, and there was light, & the Sunne, and much water: this riuer is Eſther, whō the King married and made Queene.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 10:6

   Synonyms: fount, syke, wellspring

2. An artificial, usually ornamental, water feature (usually in a garden or public place) consisting of one or more streams of water originating from a statue or other structure.

   His house is right beside that fountain on Street 15.

3. The structure from which an artificial fountain can issue.

   As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.

   1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, →OL

In a sentence

A little fountaine became a riuer, and there was light, & the Sunne, and much water: this riuer is Eſther, whō the King married and made Queene.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 10:6

Where it comes from

1. Latinfontanus
2. Late Latinfontana
3. Old Frenchfontaine
4. Middle English[Term?]
5. Englishfountain

From Middle English [Term?]; from Old French fontaine (whence modern fontaine); from Late Latin fontana, from Latin fontanus, fontaneus, adjectives from fons (“source, spring”).