fountain Copy link • fountain, fount: fons, fontis, m. (natural or artificial): a f. of sweet water, f. dulcis aquai, Lucr.: the Nile which hides the sources of its f.s, fontium qui celat origines Nilus, Hor.: in front a f. sends up water and receives it again, contra f. egerit aquam et recipit, Plin. Ep. 5, 6, 37. Fig.: the f.s of philosophy, f. philosophiae, Cic. Tusc. 1, 3, extr.: v. source. Dimin. fontĭcŭlus (a small f.): Hor.: Plin. Ep. Phr.: f.-head of sacred water, sacrae caput aquae, Hor. Od. 1, 1, 22: v. spring.