Etymologically
Log in

origin

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈɒr.ɪ.dʒɪn/, US /ˈɔːr.ə.dʒɪn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English origine,[2] probably borrowed from Middle French origine,[2][3] and directly from Latin orīgō (“rise, beginning, source; descent, birth”) (stem orīgin-),[4][5][6] from orīrī “to rise, appear, be born”,[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *heri- (“to rise”),[4] also the source of Hittite arai- “to arise”.[4] It is related to orient and original.[5][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fact of arising from something: 1387 in the OED.[7] Ancestry, descent: probably before 1400 in Barnhart,[5] about 1400 in Etymonline.[4]

Semantic evolution

The beginning of existence is from the 1560s,[4] and that from which something arises, a source, from 1604 in the OED and Barnhart,[7][5] about 1600 in Etymonline.[4] In anatomy, the point at which a muscle or nerve arises is from 1691,[7] and in mathematics, the fixed point from which coordinates are measured, from 1723.[7] Original is from before 1325,[5] and its sense “new, fresh” from the mid-18th century, in Joseph Warton.[5] In Shetland, origin is a dialect form of orange.[8]

Timeline

  • 1387 – the fact of arising.[7]
  • a. 1400 – ancestry.[5]
  • 1560s – the beginning of existence.[4]
  • 1604 – a source.[7][5]
  • 1691 – in anatomy.[7]
  • 1723 – in mathematics.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The point or place where something begins or comes from; source.
  2. A person's ancestry or social background.
  3. The fact of originating; rise or derivation.
  4. (anatomy) The relatively fixed point of attachment of a muscle.
  5. (mathematics) The point where the axes of a coordinate system meet.

Word family

  • orient
  • aborigine

Usage notes

Origin, inception, source and root all signify the point where something begins; origin is the point at which it comes into existence.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin