Do you know the definition of origin? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word origin, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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October 17, 2021
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What does the word origin mean?
According to Collins English Dictionary, Dictionary, and the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the word origin is a noun that refers to a source of ancestry or parentage. This can also be used in anatomy to refer to the end of a muscle, which is opposite its point of insertion as well as the beginning of a nerve or blood vessel or the site where it first starts to branch out. In math, it is used to refer to point of intersection of coordinate axes or planes. In commerce, it refers to the country from which a commodity or product originates. Generally, it refers to the place where something begins. Origin is three syllables – or-i-gin, and the pronunciation of origin is ˈɒrɪdʒɪn.
The word origin can be used in many different circumstances, including referring to humble origin, the coordinates of the origin, the origin of extraction, the place where axes of a Cartesian coordinate system intersect, the origin of the Earth’s surface, the proximal end of attachment of a muscle and the action of that muscle, an arbitrary point in a system of coordinates or polar coordinate system, the origin of a type of family, bloodline or line of descent, the first stage of something, recent origin, the source of a river like the source of the Ohio River, the Italian beginning of the renaissance, the first part of something, the place where the axes of a coordinate system intersect, the origin of the radiation, the origin of words, the origin of a shipment, or Communism’s Russian root.
Many different languages also use their own terms that mean origin. You may notice that some of these translations of origin from Word Sense look and sound similar to the word origin. These are called cognates, which are formed when two words of different languages have the same language of origin or root. See if you can tell which of these translations have the same root or language of origin by how they look and are spelled!
- Serbo-Croatian: počétak (masc.)
- Czech: vznik (masc.), počátek (masc.)
- Latvian: cilme (fem.)
- Romanian: origine (fem.), origină (fem.)
- Spanish: origen (masc.)
- Hungarian: eredet, kezdet
- Galician: orixe (fem.)
- Indonesian: asal usul
- Swedish: ursprung (neut.)
- Portuguese: origem (fem.), começo (masc.)
- Kilivila: uula
- Italian: origine
- Japanese: 起源 (きげん, kigen), 原因 (げんいん, gen’in)
- Arabic: مَنْشَأ (masc.)
- Volapük: rig
- Dutch: oorsprong (masc.), herkomst (fem.)
- Hindi: शुरुआत (fem.)
- Catalan: origen (masc.)
- Polish: pochodzenie (neut.)
- Bokmål: opphav (neut.), opprinnelse (masc.), utgangspunkt (neut.), utspring (neut.)
- French: origine (fem.)
- Haitian Creole: orijin
- Min Dong: 起源 (ki nguon)
- Bulgarian: произход
- Esperanto: origino
- Novial: origine
- Greek: αρχή (fem.), προέλευση (fem.)
- Georgian: საწყისი
- Mandarin: 起源 (qǐyuán), 源頭, 源头 (yuántóu), 起始 (qǐshǐ), 本源 (běnyuán)
- Tagalog: mula, kasimulan
- German: Anfang (masc.), Entstehung (fem.)
- Asturian: orixe
- Egyptian Arabic: منشأ
- Venetian: orixene
- Sicilian: uriggina (fem.), urìggina
- Lithuanian: kilmė (fem.)
- Nynorsk: opphav (neut.), utgangspunkt (neut.), utspring (neut.)
- Zulu: umsuka
- Aragonese: orichen (masc.)
- Turkish: köken, başlangıç, kaynak, orijin
- Russian: нача́ло (neut.), исто́чник (masc.)
What are synonyms and antonyms of origin?
There are many different words that can be used in place of the word origin. These words are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same definition as another given word or phrase. Learning synonyms is a great way to expand your vocabulary and avoid repeating yourself in written and spoken English. This list of synonyms for the word origin is provided by Power Thesaurus.
- reason
- alpha
- parent
- spring
- fountainhead
- provenance
- pedigree
- square one
- nascency
- stemma
- origins
- line
- basis
- begetter
- derivation
- stock
- original
- babyhood
- author
- onset
- paternity
- mother
- root
- home
- genealogy
- incipience
- rise
- parentage
- blood line
- creation
- extraction
- nativity
- base
- rootage
- embryo
- family
- motive
- sources
- fount
- mainspring
- beginning
- race
- initiation
- inception
- genesis
- birth
- place of origin
- bloodline
- opening
- well
- ancestry
- starting point
- font
- conception
- blood
- cradle
- emergence
- derivations
- line of descent
- dawn
- seeds
- kickoff
- germ
- heritage
- progenitor
- background
- foundation
- head
- strain
- cause
- core
- birthplace
- egg
- heart
- commencement
- origination
- producer
- roots
- seed
- nucleus
- source
- lineage
- beginnings
- vintage
- provenience
- dawning
- originator
- causes
- start
- bottom
- ground zero
- outset
- inauguration
- wellspring
- infancy
- descent
- etymology
- essence
- agent
- fountain
There are also plenty of different words that have the opposite meaning of origin. These opposite words are called antonyms, which are another great tool for expanding your English language vocabulary in a quick and easy way. This list of antonyms is also provided by Power Thesaurus.
- end
- matter of course
- eventuality
- after-effect
- clout
- mother
- bearing
- impact
- hangover
- fruit of one’s loins
- demise
- turnout
- death
- development
- upshot
- fallout
- conclusion
- fruits
- end product
- outgrowth
- actualization
- finale
- causatum
- fate
- final stage
- bitter end
- echo
- consummation
- follow through
- all holiday
- can of worms
- consequence
- backlash
- deathplace
- ascent
- termination
- logical conclusion
- backwash
- aftershock
- followup
- everlasting sleep
- fatal accident
- aftermath
- implication
- death by a thousand cuts
- impression
- denouement
- moment
- fatality
- death of a thousand cuts
- imprint
- chain reaction
- fruit
- final result
- creation
- afterglow
- flak
- last
- leftover
- blowback
- apocalypse
- influence
- child
- mark
- after-effects
- heritage
- footprint
- legacy
- product
- lingchi
- outcome
- final phase
- endless sleep
- aftereffect
- consequences
- corollary
- event
- concomitant
- sequence
- net result
- destiny
- finish
- by-product
- ending
- harvest
- effect
- delayed response
- destination
- offspring
- follow-up
- end result
- issue
- culmination
- effects
- bottom line
- result
- expiration
- goal
- offshoot
- byproduct
What is the word origin of origin?
According to Etymonline, the word origin has been used cine c15 and comes from the Latin originem.
Overall, the word origin means the beginning or start of something. This could refer to a family, used in the medical field, or in mathematics.
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