or·i·gin
(ôŕə-jĭn, ŏŕ-)
[Middle English origine, ancestry, from Latin orīgō, orīgin-, from orīrī, to arise, be born.]
noun
- The point at which something comes into existence or from which it derives or is derived.
- Ancestry: “We cannot escape our origins, however hard we try” (James Baldwin)
- The fact of originating; rise or derivation: The rumor had its origin in an impulsive remark.
- Anatomy The point of attachment of a muscle that remains relatively fixed during contraction.
- Mathematics The point of intersection of coordinate axes, as in the Cartesian coordinate system.
synonyms:
origin, inception, source, root1 These nouns signify the point at which something originates. Origin is the point at which something comes into existence: The origins of some words are unknown. When origin refers to people, it means parentage or ancestry: “He came . . . of mixed French and Scottish origin” (Charlotte Brontë) Inception is the beginning, as of an action or process: The researcher was involved in the project from its inception. Source signifies the point at which something springs into being or from which it derives or is obtained: “The mysterious . . . is the source of all true art and science” (Albert Einstein) Root often denotes what is considered the fundamental cause of or basic reason for something: “Lack of money is the root of all evil” (George Bernard Shaw)
