Other forms: origins
The origin of something is the point it first came from. The origin of the word, country of origin, the origins of the dispute.
The plural origins is used for people's family background — of Irish origins — and for the beginnings of a complicated thing. Country of origin is a labelling requirement on food and goods. In mathematics, the origin is the point where the axes cross, at zero. Note original, originate and originally; and that the origin of something is not the same as its cause.
1nounoriginThe point something first came from.
“The origin of the name has been argued about for two centuries.”
synonyms: source, beginning
2nounfamilySomebody's family background.
“The family is of Cornish origin and has been here since 1840.”
origin is a starting point.
Also accepted in games: source, beginning
Latin origo comes from oriri, to rise — the same verb behind orient, the direction where the sun rises, and abortion. An origin is where something rose from.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₃er-
Latin
orīgō — beginning, source, birth, origin
Old French
origine
Middle English
origine
English, today
origin
Built from
From Middle English origine, origyne, from Old French origine, orine, ourine, from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source, birth, origin”), from orior (“to rise”); see orient. a doublet of origo.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA