origin

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   The place, time, or cause from which something begins or first comes into existence.

   Grammar: Usually followed by of: the origin of the festival.

   Patterns

   • the origin of something
   • have its origin in something
   • of unknown origin

   Historians still argue about the origin of the language.

   The fire was of unknown origin.

   The custom has its origin in a medieval harvest ritual.

2. 2nounusually plural

   The family, country, or social background that a person comes from.

   Grammar: Often in the plural: she has humble origins.

   Patterns

   • of Irish origin
   • humble origins
   • country of origin

   Despite his humble origins, he became a respected judge.

   Many families here are of Polish origin.

   Applicants must state their country of origin.

3. 3nounsingularmathematics

   The point where the axes of a graph cross, where both coordinates are zero.

   Grammar: Takes the: the graph passes through the origin.

   Patterns

   • the origin of a graph
   • pass through the origin

   The line passes through the origin.

   Plot the point two units to the right of the origin.

   Distances are measured from the origin.

Word forms

Common combinations

country of origin

Labels must show the product's country of origin.

trace the origin

Researchers traced the origin of the outbreak to a single farm.

humble origins

The singer rose from humble origins.

origin of life

Scientists study the origin of life on Earth.

of foreign origin

The word is of foreign origin.

point of origin

Firefighters searched for the fire's point of origin.

Synonyms and how they differ

source

Source suggests where something is obtained or flows from, while origin points to where it first began.

beginning

Beginning is a plain word for the start of something, but it does not suggest a cause or background.

root

Root is more figurative, pointing to a deep underlying cause.

ancestry

Ancestry applies only to the family line of a person, not to things or ideas.

Opposites

Word family

original adjective

existing from the start, or new and not copied

originate verb

to begin or arise from

originally adverb

at the beginning

originator noun

the person who begins something

originality noun

the quality of being new and different

Commonly confused: origin or origination?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “origin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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