Meanings
origin1
nounorigin (plural origins)
plural origins
- The source of a river, information, goods, etc.
Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.
2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 371 more example
It is clear that the origin of the truth would be an admirable criterion of this sort, if only the various origins could be discriminated from one another from this point of view, and the history of dogmatic opinion shows that origin has always been a favorite test. Origin in immediate intuition; origin in pontifical authority; origin in supernatural revelation, as by vision, hearing, or unaccountable impression; origin in direct possession by a higher spirit, expressing itself in prophecy and warning; origin in automatic utterance generally,—these origins have been stock warrants for the truth of one opinion after another which we find represented in religious history.
1902, William James, “Lecture I”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLCSynonyms: source
- cartographyAn arbitrary point on Earth's surface, chosen as the zero for a system of coordinates.
- in pluralAncestry.
Origin2
proper noun
- rugby leaguethe State of Origin series (an annual best-of-three rugby league series between New South Wales and Queensland, nicknamed the "Blues" and the "Maroons", respectively)
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe beginning of something.
Similar
nounThe source of a river, information, goods, etc.
Similar
nounThe point at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect.
Similar
antonym(s) of “beginning”
Opposite
antonym(s) of “source”
Opposite
antonym(s) of “proximal end of a muscle that is not moved by the muscle's action”
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe place where something begins, where it springs into being
Broader
nounproperties attributable to your ancestry
Similar
Broader
nounan event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events
Similar
Broader
nounthe hereditary derivation of an individual
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinorīgō“beginning, source, birth, origin”
- Old Frenchorigine
- Middle Englishorigine
- Englishorigin
From Middle English origine, origyne, from Old French origine, orine, ourine, from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source, birth, origin”), from orior (“to rise”); see orient. Doublet of origo. Displaced Old English frymþ.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans oorsprong
- oorsprongbeginning of something
Ancient Greek ἀρχή
- ἀρχή (arkhḗ)beginning of something
Arabic مَنْشَأ, مَنْبَع
- مَنْشَأ (manšaʔ)beginning of something
- مَنْبَع (manbaʕ)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- مَنْشَأ (manšaʔ)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- مَصْدَر (maṣdar)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- اَصْل (aṣl)ancestry
Basque jatorri
- jatorribeginning of something
Bengali উৎপত্তিস্থল
- উৎপত্তিস্থল (utpottisthol)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
Bulgarian нача́ло, прои́зход
- нача́ло (načálo)beginning of something
- прои́зход (proízhod)beginning of something
- и́звор (ízvor)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- и́зточник (íztočnik)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- нача́ло (načálo)point at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- прои́зход (proízhod)ancestry
Catalan origen, origen
- origenbeginning of something
- origensource of a river, information, goods, etc.
Chinese Mandarin 起源, 源頭 /源头
- 起源 (qǐyuán)beginning of something
- 源頭 /源头 (yuántóu)beginning of something
- 起始 (qǐshǐ)beginning of something
- 本源 (běnyuán)beginning of something
- 源頭 /源头 (yuántóu)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- 水源 (shuǐyuán)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- 原點 /原点 (yuándiǎn)point at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- 起源 (qǐyuán)ancestry
- 來源 /来源 (láiyuán)ancestry
Czech vznik, počátek
- vznikbeginning of something
- počátekbeginning of something
- počáteksource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- pramensource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- počátekpoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- původancestry
Danish herkomst, oprindelse
- herkomstbeginning of something
- oprindelsebeginning of something
- origopoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
Dutch oorsprong, herkomst
- oorsprongbeginning of something
- herkomstbeginning of something
- oorsprongsource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- oorsprongpoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- oorsprongancestry
- afkomstancestry
- herkomstancestry
Esperanto origino, fonto
- originobeginning of something
- fontosource of a river, information, goods, etc.
Finnish alkuperä, lähteet
- alkuperäbeginning of something
- lähteetsource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- alkuperäsource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- origopoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- nollapistepoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- syntyperäancestry
French origine, source
- originebeginning of something
- sourcesource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- originepoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- origineancestry
German Ursprung, Anfang
- Ursprungbeginning of something
- Anfangbeginning of something
- Entstehungbeginning of something
- Quellesource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- Ursprungpoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- Herkunftancestry
Greek αρχή, προέλευση
- αρχή (archí)beginning of something
- προέλευση (proélefsi)beginning of something
- πηγή (pigí)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- καταγωγή (katagogí)ancestry
Hebrew מוֹצָא, מָקוֹר
- מוֹצָא (motsá)beginning of something
- מָקוֹר (makór)beginning of something
- מָקוֹר (makór)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- רֵאשִׁית (reshít)point at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- מוֹצָא (motzá)ancestry
Hindi स्रोत, उद्गम
- स्रोत (srot)beginning of something
- उद्गम (udgam)beginning of something
- प्रारंभ (prārambh)beginning of something
- आरंभ (ārambh)beginning of something
- उद्गम (udgam)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- मूल (mūl)ancestry
Hungarian eredet, kezdet
- eredetbeginning of something
- kezdetbeginning of something
- kezdőpontbeginning of something
- kiindulópontbeginning of something
- forrássource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- származássource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- origópoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- származásancestry
Icelandic uppruni
- upprunibeginning of something
Indonesian asal-usul, asal
- asal-usulbeginning of something
- asalsource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- sumbersource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- origopoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- asalancestry
Irish foinse, máthair
- foinsebeginning of something
- máthairbeginning of something
- bunúsbeginning of something
- foinsesource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- bunphointepoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- bunúsancestry
Italian origine, origini
- originebeginning of something
- originiancestry
Japanese 起源, 原因
- 起源 (kigen)beginning of something
- 原因 (gen'in)beginning of something
- 原初 (gensho)beginning of something
- 原点 (genten)point at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
Korean 기원, 원인
- 기원 (giwon)beginning of something
- 원인 (wonin)beginning of something
Latin orīgō, prī̆ncipium
- orīgōbeginning of something
- prī̆ncipiumbeginning of something
- prīmōrdiumbeginning of something
Latvian cilme
- cilmebeginning of something
Lithuanian kilmė
- kilmėbeginning of something
Malay asal
- asalbeginning of something
Māori takenga
- takengasource of a river, information, goods, etc.
Norwegian origo
- origopoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
Norwegian Bokmål opphav, opprinnelse
- opphavbeginning of something
- opprinnelsebeginning of something
- utgangspunktbeginning of something
- utspringbeginning of something
- utspringsource of a river, information, goods, etc.
Polish pochodzenie, początek
- pochodzeniebeginning of something
- początekbeginning of something
- pochodzenieancestry
Portuguese origem, começo
- origembeginning of something
- começobeginning of something
- origemsource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- (de um rio) nascentesource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- origempoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- origemancestry
Romanian origine, origină
- originebeginning of something
- originăbeginning of something
Russian нача́ло, исто́чник
- нача́ло (načálo)beginning of something
- исто́чник (istóčnik)beginning of something
- происхожде́ние (proisxoždénije)beginning of something
- нача́ло (načálo)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- исто́чник (istóčnik)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- исто́к (istók)source of a river, information, goods, etc.
- нача́ло координа́т (načálo koordinát)point at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- происхожде́ние (proisxoždénije)ancestry
Slovak začiatok, vznik
- začiatokbeginning of something
- vznikbeginning of something
- pôvodancestry
Spanish origen, origen
- origenbeginning of something
- origensource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- origenancestry
Swedish ursprung, upprinnelse
- ursprungbeginning of something
- upprinnelsebeginning of something
- källasource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- ursprungsource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- origopoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- ursprungancestry
- härkomstancestry
Tagalog mulâ, simulâ
- mulâbeginning of something
- simulâbeginning of something
- pasimulâbeginning of something
- umpisábeginning of something
- kasimulansource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- mulaanpoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
Thai กำเนิด
- กำเนิด (gam-nə̀ət)beginning of something
Turkish köken, başlangıç
- kökenbeginning of something
- başlangıçbeginning of something
- kaynakbeginning of something
- orijinbeginning of something
- kaynaksource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- orijinpoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
- soy sopancestry
Ukrainian джерело́, крини́ця
- джерело́ (džereló)beginning of something
- крини́ця (krynýcja)beginning of something
- поча́ток (počátok)beginning of something
- похо́дження (poxódžennja)beginning of something
- похо́дження (poxódžennja)ancestry
Urdu آغاز, اَصْل
- آغاز (āġāz)beginning of something
- اَصْل (asl)beginning of something
- جَذْر (jazr)beginning of something
Vietnamese nguồn gốc, gốc toạ độ
- nguồn gốcbeginning of something
- gốc toạ độpoint at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect
Zulu umsuka, umdabu
- umsukabeginning of something
- umdabusource of a river, information, goods, etc.
- indabukosource of a river, information, goods, etc.
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
origin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/origin
MLA
“origin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/origin. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “origin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/origin.
Source: origin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.