Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OR'IGIN, n. [L. origo.]
1. The first existence or beginning of any thing; as the origin of Rome. In history it is necessary, if practicable, to trace all events to their origin.
2. Fountain; source; cause; that from which any thing primarily proceeds; that which gives existence or beginning. The apostasy is believed to have been the origin of moral evil. The origin of many of our customs is lost in antiquity. Nations, like individuals, are ambitious to trace their descent from an honorable origin.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: 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" [syn: beginning, origin, root, rootage, source]
2: properties attributable to your ancestry; "he comes from good origins" [syn: origin, descent, extraction]
3: an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events [syn: origin, origination, inception]
4: the point of intersection of coordinate axes; where the values of the coordinates are all zero
5: the source of something's existence or from which it derives or is derived; "the rumor had its origin in idle gossip"; "vegetable origins"; "mineral origin"; "origin in sensation"
6: the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has been warriors" [syn: lineage, line, line of descent, descent, bloodline, blood line, blood, pedigree, ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English origine, from Latin origin-, origo, from oriri to rise — more at orient Date: 15th century 1. ancestry, parentage 2. a. rise, beginning, or derivation from a source b. the point at which something begins or rises or from which it derives <the origin of the custom>; also something that creates, causes, or gives rise to another <a spring is the origin of the brook> 3. the more fixed, central, or larger attachment of a muscle 4. the intersection of coordinate axes Synonyms: origin, source, inception, root mean the point at which something begins its course or existence. origin applies to the things or persons from which something is ultimately derived and often to the causes operating before the thing itself comes into being <an investigation into the origin of baseball>. source applies more often to the point where something springs into being <the source of the Nile> <the source of recurrent trouble>. inception stresses the beginning of something without implying causes <the business has been a success since its inception>. root suggests a first, ultimate, or fundamental source often not easily discerned <the real root of the violence>.

U.S. Military Dictionary

Beginning point of a deployment where unit or non-unit-related cargo or personnel are located.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a beginning or starting-point; a derivation; a source (a word of Latin origin). 2 (often in pl.) a person's ancestry (what are his origins?). 3 Anat. a a place at which a muscle is firmly attached. b a place where a nerve or blood vessel begins or branches from a main nerve or blood vessel. 4 Math. a fixed point from which coordinates are measured. Etymology: F origine or f. L origo -ginis f. oriri rise

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Origin Or"i*gin, n. [F. origine, L. origo, -iginis, fr. oriri to rise, become visible; akin to Gr. 'orny`nai to stir up, rouse, Skr. [.r], and perh. to E. run.] 1. The first existence or beginning of anything; the birth. This mixed system of opinion and sentiment had its origin in the ancient chivalry. --Burke. 2. That from which anything primarily proceeds; the fountain; the spring; the cause; the occasion. 3. (Anat.) The point of attachment or end of a muscle which is fixed during contraction; -- in contradistinction to insertion. Origin of co["o]rdinate axes (Math.), the point where the axes intersect. See Note under Ordinate. Syn: Commencement; rise; source; spring; fountain; derivation; cause; root; foundation. Usage: Origin, Source. Origin denotes the rise or commencement of a thing; source presents itself under the image of a fountain flowing forth in a continuous stream of influences. The origin of moral evil has been much disputed, but no one can doubt that it is the source of most of the calamities of our race. I think he would have set out just as he did, with the origin of ideas -- the proper starting point of a grammarian, who is to treat of their signs. --Tooke. Famous Greece, That source of art and cultivated thought Which they to Rome, and Romans hither, brought. --Waller.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(origins) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. You can refer to the beginning, cause, or source of something as its origin or origins. ...theories about the origin of life... The disorder in military policy had its origins in Truman's first term... Their medical problems are basically physical in origin... Most of the thickeners are of plant origin. N-COUNT: usu with poss, also in/of N 2. When you talk about a person's origin or origins, you are referring to the country, race, or social class of their parents or ancestors. Thomas has not forgotten his humble origins. ...people of Asian origin... They are forced to return to their country of origin. N-COUNT: usu poss N, also of/in N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Source, rise, spring, fountain, fountain-head, beginning, commencement, derivation, root, foundation, birth, cradle, original, starting-point. 2. Cause, occasion, derivation, root, foundation, fountain, spring.

Moby Thesaurus

A, alpha, ancestry, babyhood, base, basis, beginning, beginnings, birth, birthplace, blast-off, blood, childhood, commencement, comparative linguistics, conception, cradle, creation, cutting edge, dawn, dawning, derivation, descent, edge, eponymy, establishment, etymology, extraction, flying start, folk etymology, foundation, fount, fountain, fresh start, freshman year, genealogy, genesis, grass roots, head, heritage, historical linguistics, inauguration, inception, inchoation, incipience, incipiency, incunabula, infancy, institution, jump-off, kick-off, launch, launching, leading edge, lineage, maternity, nascence, nascency, nativity, new departure, oncoming, onset, opening, original, origination, origins, outbreak, outset, parentage, parturition, paternity, pedigree, pregnancy, provenance, provenience, radical, radix, rise, root, running start, semantic history, send-off, setting in motion, setting-up, source, square one, start, start-off, starting point, stem, stock, take-off, taproot, well, wellspring, whence, word history, youth