S: (n) beginning, origin, root, rootage, source (the place where something begins, where it springs into being) "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root"
S: (n) derivation (the source or origin from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues)) "he prefers shoes of Italian derivation"; "music of Turkish derivation"
S: (n) jumping-off place, point of departure (a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched) "one day when I was at a suitable jumping-off place I decided to see if I could find him"; "my point of departure was San Francisco"