Spring vs. Fountain — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on March 27, 2024
Spring is a natural source of water from the ground, while a fountain is a man-made structure designed to spray water into the air.
Difference Between Spring and Fountain
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A spring is a natural occurrence where water flows from an underground aquifer to the earth's surface, creating a small stream or pool. This process is often the result of an aquifer being filled to the point that the water overflows onto the land surface. Fountains, on the other hand, are artificial installations that pump water into the air or through spouts for decorative, celebratory, or cooling purposes.
Springs are valued for their natural purity and are often the origin of streams and rivers, providing essential water for ecosystems, wildlife, and sometimes human consumption. Fountains, while they can use fresh or recirculated water, are primarily appreciated for their aesthetic appeal and have been used historically in gardens, courtyards, and public spaces for decoration and to symbolize wealth and power.
The formation of a spring is a geological process that can take many years, as water percolates through the soil and rock, becoming part of an underground aquifer before resurfacing. Fountains, however, are constructed and can be designed in various styles, from simple spouts in a small pond to elaborate, sculptured features with complex water shows.
Springs can vary significantly in size, from small seeps that barely trickle to large springs that flow at hundreds of gallons per minute. Fountains are limited only by human design and engineering, with some capable of shooting water hundreds of feet into the air.
While springs are found in natural settings and rely on the natural hydrological cycle to replenish, fountains are often found in urban or landscaped settings and may require a continuous supply of water, electricity for pumps, and regular maintenance to operate.
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Comparison Chart
Origin
Natural water source from the ground.
Man-made structure that sprays water.
Purpose
Provide water for ecosystems, wildlife, and human consumption.
Decorative, cooling, or celebratory purposes.
Formation
Geological process involving aquifers and water percolation.
Constructed by humans, requiring engineering and design.
Size and Flow
Varies naturally, can range from seeps to large flows.
Designed and engineered, can include large, elaborate displays.
Location
Natural settings, often in undeveloped areas.
Urban, landscaped, or designed spaces.
Compare with Definitions
Spring
Groundwater source.
Springs are crucial for maintaining the wetland ecosystem.
Fountain
Water feature.
The city square features a beautiful Renaissance fountain.
Spring
Natural water flow.
The mountain spring provided fresh water to the village.
Fountain
Architectural feature.
The palace's design includes several elaborate fountains.
Spring
Season of rebirth.
Flowers bloom around the spring, marking the season's start.
Fountain
Celebration symbol.
Fountains are often turned on to celebrate national holidays.
Spring
Source of a river.
The Nile River originates from a spring in the mountains.
Fountain
Decorative element.
Their garden's focal point is a small, stone-carved fountain.
Spring
Healing or mineral water.
The hot spring is famous for its therapeutic properties.
Fountain
A spring, especially the source of a stream.
Spring
To move upward or forward in a single quick motion or a series of such motions; leap
The goat sprang over the log.
Fountain
A fountain (from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), a source or spring) is a structure which squirts water into a basin to supply drinking water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Spring
To move suddenly, especially because of being resilient or moved by a spring
I let the branch spring forward. The door sprang shut.
Fountain
An artificially created jet or stream of water.
Spring
To start doing something suddenly
The firefighters sprang into action.
Fountain
A structure, often decorative, from which a jet or stream of water issues.
Spring
To appear or come into being quickly
New businesses are springing up rapidly.
Fountain
A reservoir or chamber containing a supply of liquid that can be siphoned off as needed.
Spring
To issue or emerge suddenly
A cry sprang from her lips. A thought springs to mind.
Fountain
A soda fountain.
Spring
To arise from a source; develop
Their frustration springs from a misunderstanding.
Fountain
A drinking fountain.
Spring
(intransitive) To burst forth.
Fountain
A point of origin or dissemination; a source
The library, a fountain of information.
Spring
(of liquids) To gush, to flow suddenly and violently.
The boat sprang a leak and began to sink.
Fountain
To flow or cause to flow like a fountain.
Spring
To gush, to flow out of the ground.
Fountain
(originally) A natural source of water; a spring.
Spring
(of light) To appear, to dawn.
Fountain
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.
Spring
(of plants) To sprout, to grow,
Fountain
The structure from which an artificial fountain can issue.
Spring
(now chiefly botanical) To grow taller or longer.
Fountain
A reservoir from which liquid can be drawn.
Spring
To rise from cover.
Fountain
A source or origin of a flow (e.g., of favors or knowledge).
Spring
(of landscape) To come dramatically into view.
Fountain
(heraldry) A roundel barry wavy argent and azure.
Spring
(figurative) to arise, to come into existence.
Hope springs eternal.
He hit the gas and the car sprang to life.
Fountain
(juggling) A juggling pattern typically done with an even number of props where each prop is caught by the same hand that throws it.
Spring
To move with great speed and energy; to leap, to jump; to dart, to sprint; of people: to rise rapidly from a seat, bed, etc.
Deer spring with their hind legs, using their front hooves to steady themselves.
He sprang to his feet.
A bow, when bent, springs back by its elastic power.
Don't worry. She'll spring back to her cheerful old self in no time.
It was the first thing that sprang to mind.
She sprang to her husband's defense and clocked the protestor.
Fountain
(US) A soda fountain.
Spring
(usually with from) To be born, descend, or originate from
He sprang from peasant stock.
Fountain
(US) A drink poured from a soda fountain, or the cup it is poured into.
Spring
To descend or originate from.
The Stoics sprang from the Cynics.
Fountain
A ground-based firework that projects sparks similar to a water fountain.
Spring
(obsolete) To rise in social position or military rank, to be promoted.
Fountain
Anything that resembles a fountain in operation.
Spring
To become known, to spread.
Fountain
(intransitive) To flow or gush as if from a fountain.
Lava fountained from the volcano.
Spring
To emit, to spread.
Fountain
A spring of water issuing from the earth.
Spring
To grow.
Fountain
An artificially produced jet or stream of water; also, the structure or works in which such a jet or stream rises or flows; a basin built and constantly supplied with pure water for drinking and other useful purposes, or for ornament.
Spring
(transitive) To cause to burst forth.
Fountain
A reservoir or chamber to contain a liquid which can be conducted or drawn off as needed for use; as, the ink fountain in a printing press, etc.
Spring
To cause to well up or flow out of the ground.
Fountain
The source from which anything proceeds, or from which anything is supplied continuously; origin; source.
Judea, the fountain of the gospel.
Author of all being,Fountain of light, thyself invisible.
Spring
To bring forth.
Fountain
A structure from which an artificially produced jet of water arises
Spring
To cause to become known, to tell of.
Fountain
A natural flow of ground water
Spring
To cause to move energetically; (equestrianism) to cause to gallop, to spur.
Fountain
An artificially produced flow of water
Spring
To cause to rise from cover.
His dogs sprang the grouse and partridges and flushed the woodcock.
Fountain
A plumbing fixture that provides a flow of water
Spring
To shift quickly from one designated position to another.
Fountain
Cooling mechanism.
The spray from the fountain helps cool the surrounding area.
Spring
To breed with, to impregnate.
Spring
(of mechanisms) To cause to work or open by sudden application of pressure.
He sprang the trap.
Spring
To make wet, to moisten.
Spring
To rise suddenly, (of tears) to well up.
The documentary made tears spring to their eyes.
Spring
To burst into pieces, to explode, to shatter.
Spring
To go off.
Spring
To cause to explode, to set off, to detonate.
Spring
To crack.
Spring
To have something crack.
Spring
To cause to crack.
Spring
To surprise by sudden or deft action.
Spring
To come upon and flush out
Spring
To catch in an illegal act or compromising position.
Spring
(obsolete) To begin something.
Spring
(obsolete) To produce, provide, or place an item unexpectedly.
Spring
To put bad money into circulation.
Spring
To tell, to share.
Spring
(of news, surprises) To announce unexpectedly, to reveal.
Sorry to spring it on you like this but I've been offered another job.
Spring
To free from imprisonment, especially by facilitating an illegal escape.
His lieutenants hired a team of miners to help spring him.
Spring
To be free of imprisonment, especially by illegal escape.
Spring
To build, to form the initial curve of.
They sprung an arch over the lintel.
Spring
To extend, to curve.
The arches spring from the front posts.
Spring
To turn a vessel using a spring attached to its anchor cable.
Spring
To raise a vessel's sheer.
Spring
To raise a last's toe.
Spring
(transitive) To pay or spend a certain sum, to cough up.
Spring
To raise an offered price.
Spring
To act as a spring: to strongly rebound.
Spring
To equip with springs, especially to equip with a suspension.
Spring
To provide spring or elasticity
Spring
To inspire, to motivate.
Spring
(ambitransitive) To deform owing to excessive pressure, to become warped; to intentionally deform in order to position and then straighten in place.
A piece of timber sometimes springs in seasoning.
He sprang in the slat.
Spring
To reach maturity, to be fully grown.
Spring
To swell with milk or pregnancy.
Spring
To sound, to play.
Spring
(intransitive) To spend the springtime somewhere
Spring
(of animals) to find or get enough food during springtime.
Spring
(countable) An act of springing: a leap, a jump.
Spring
(countable) The season of the year in temperate regions in which plants spring from the ground and into bloom and dormant animals spring to life.
Spring is the time of the year most species reproduce.
You can visit me in the spring, when the weather is bearable.
Spring
(astronomy) The period from the moment of vernal equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere) to the moment of the summer solstice (around June 21); the equivalent periods reckoned in other cultures and calendars.
Spring Festival" throughout East Asia because it is reckoned as the beginning of their spring.
Spring
(meteorology) The three months of March, April, and May in the Northern Hemisphere and September, October, and November in the Southern Hemisphere.
I spent my spring holidays in Morocco.
The spring issue will be out next week.
Spring
The time of something's growth; the early stages of some process.
Spring
A period of political liberalization and democratization
Arab Spring
Spring
Someone with ivory or peach skin tone and eyes and hair that are not extremely dark, seen as best suited to certain colors of clothing.
Spring
(countable) Something which springs, springs forth, springs up, or springs back, particularly
Spring
(geology) A spray or body of water springing from the ground.
This beer was brewed with pure spring water.
Spring
The rising of the sea at high tide.
Spring
(oceanography) nodot=a, the especially high tide shortly after full and new moons.
Neap tide
Spring
A mechanical device made of flexible or coiled material that exerts force and attempts to spring back when bent, compressed, or stretched.
We jumped so hard the bed springs broke.
Spring
(nautical) A line from a vessel's end or side to its anchor cable used to diminish or control its movement.
Spring
(nautical) A line laid out from a vessel's end to the opposite end of an adjacent vessel or mooring to diminish or control its movement.
You should put a couple of springs onto the jetty to stop the boat moving so much.
Spring
(figurative) A race, a lineage.
Spring
(figurative) A youth.
Spring
A shoot, a young tree.
Spring
A grove of trees; a forest.
Spring
An erection of the penis. en
Spring
A crack which has sprung up in a mast, spar, or (rare) a plank or seam.
Spring
(uncountable) Springiness: an attribute or quality of springing, springing up, or springing back, particularly
Spring
Elasticity: the property of a body springing back to its original form after compression, stretching, etc.
The spring of a bow
Spring
Elastic energy, power, or force.
Spring
(countable) The source from which an action or supply of something springs.
Spring
(countable) Something which causes others or another to spring forth or spring into action, particularly
Spring
A cause, a motive, etc.
Spring
(obsolete) A lively piece of music.
Spring
To leap; to bound; to jump.
The mountain stag that springsFrom height to height, and bounds along the plains.
Spring
To issue with speed and violence; to move with activity; to dart; to shoot.
And sudden lightSprung through the vaulted roof.
Spring
To start or rise suddenly, as from a covert.
Watchful as fowlers when their game will spring.
Spring
To fly back; as, a bow, when bent, springs back by its elastic power.
Spring
To bend from a straight direction or plane surface; to become warped; as, a piece of timber, or a plank, sometimes springs in seasoning.
Spring
To shoot up, out, or forth; to come to the light; to begin to appear; to emerge; as a plant from its seed, as streams from their source, and the like; - often followed by up, forth, or out.
Till well nigh the day began to spring.
To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth.
Do not blast my springing hopes.
O, spring to light; auspicious Babe, be born.
Spring
To issue or proceed, as from a parent or ancestor; to result, as from a cause, motive, reason, or principle.
[They found] new hope to springOut of despair, joy, but with fear yet linked.
Spring
To grow; to thrive; to prosper.
What makes all this, but Jupiter the king,At whose command we perish, and we spring?
Spring
To cause to spring up; to start or rouse, as game; to cause to rise from the earth, or from a covert; as, to spring a pheasant.
Spring
To produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly; as, to spring a surprise on someone; to spring a joke.
She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs a light.
The friends to the cause sprang a new project.
Spring
To cause to explode; as, to spring a mine.
Spring
To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken; as, to spring a mast or a yard.
Spring
To cause to close suddenly, as the parts of a trap operated by a spring; as, to spring a trap.
Spring
To bend by force, as something stiff or strong; to force or put by bending, as a beam into its sockets, and allowing it to straighten when in place; - often with in, out, etc.; as, to spring in a slat or a bar.
Spring
To pass over by leaping; as, to spring a fence.
Spring
To release (a person) from confinement, especially from a prison.
Spring
A leap; a bound; a jump.
The prisoner, with a spring, from prison broke.
Spring
A flying back; the resilience of a body recovering its former state by its elasticity; as, the spring of a bow.
Spring
Elastic power or force.
Heavens! what a spring was in his arm!
Spring
An elastic body of any kind, as steel, India rubber, tough wood, or compressed air, used for various mechanical purposes, as receiving and imparting power, diminishing concussion, regulating motion, measuring weight or other force.
Spring
Any source of supply; especially, the source from which a stream proceeds; an issue of water from the earth; a natural fountain.
Spring
Any active power; that by which action, or motion, is produced or propagated; cause; origin; motive.
Our author shuns by vulgar springs to moveThe hero's glory, or the virgin's love.
Spring
That which springs, or is originated, from a source;
Spring
That which causes one to spring; specifically, a lively tune.
Spring
The season of the year when plants begin to vegetate and grow; the vernal season, usually comprehending the months of March, April, and May, in the middle latitudes north of the equator.
Spring
The time of growth and progress; early portion; first stage; as, the spring of life.
O how this spring of love resemblethThe uncertain glory of an April day.
Spring
A crack or fissure in a mast or yard, running obliquely or transversely.
Spring
The season of growth;
The emerging buds were a sure sign of spring
He will hold office until the spring of next year
Spring
A natural flow of ground water
Spring
A metal elastic device that returns to its shape or position when pushed or pulled or pressed;
The spring was broken
Spring
A light springing movement upwards or forwards
Spring
The elasticity of something that can be stretched and returns to its original length
Spring
A point at which water issues forth
Spring
Move forward by leaps and bounds;
The horse bounded across the meadow
The child leapt across the puddle
Can you jump over the fence?
Spring
Develop into a distinctive entity;
Our plans began to take shape
Spring
Spring back; spring away from an impact;
The rubber ball bounced
These particles do not resile but they unite after they collide
Spring
Produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly;
He sprang a new haircut on his wife
Spring
Develop suddenly;
The tire sprang a leak
Spring
Produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly;
He sprang these news on me just as I was leaving
Common Curiosities
What is the purpose of a spring?
Springs provide natural water sources for ecosystems, wildlife, and sometimes human use.
Are there different types of springs?
Yes, there are several types, including artesian, mineral, and hot springs, each with unique characteristics.
Can a fountain be found in natural settings?
Fountains are man-made and typically found in urban or designed landscapes, not natural settings.
What is the significance of fountains in history?
Historically, fountains symbolized wealth, power, and were central to community life in many cultures.
Is spring water always safe to drink?
While spring water is often clean, it can be contaminated and usually requires testing to ensure safety.
Can fountains be interactive?
Yes, some fountains are designed for public interaction, such as wading or playing in the water.
How does a spring form?
A spring forms when water from an underground aquifer overflows onto the land surface.
What powers a fountain?
Fountains are usually powered by pumps that circulate water, often requiring electricity.
How are springs important to the environment?
Springs support biodiversity by providing water to habitats and serve as the headwaters of rivers.
Can fountains be environmentally friendly?
Yes, especially when they use recirculated water and solar power for pumps.
How do fountains enhance urban spaces?
Fountains add beauty, reduce noise, and can help cool urban areas.
What challenges do springs face?
Springs can be threatened by pollution, overuse, and changes to the water table or aquifer.
Can fountains use natural water sources?
While fountains can use natural water, they often rely on recirculated or municipal water supplies.
What role do springs play in culture?
Springs have been revered as sacred or mystical in various cultures throughout history.
Are there famous examples of springs or fountains?
Yes, the Fountain of Trevi in Rome and the springs at Yellowstone National Park are famous examples.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
