originality

Etymology

It is formed from English original + -ity,^[2][3][4] probably after French originalité,^[3] which the OED records from 1699, with an isolated Middle French use in 1380 in the sense "lineage, extraction".^[2] Merriam-Webster, Klein and the Shorter Oxford take the English word as borrowed from the French one.^[5][6][7] The adjective original is from Old French original (“first”) and orīginālis, from orīgō (“beginning, source, birth”), from orior (“to rise”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being primary or produced at first hand; authenticity, genuineness: 1648, in R. Weldon.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives the same first date,^[5] while Etymonline dates the word to 1742, in the sense "the quality or state of being primary or first-hand".^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, authenticity, is now labelled archaic by Merriam-Webster.^[5] From 1742, in a letter of Thomas Gray, the word was applied to people, for the power of thinking or acting independently and producing new ideas.^[2] From 1782 it meant the quality of being new and unlike anything before, especially in the style of a work of art or literature;^[2] Etymonline dates this sense of novelty and freshness to 1787.^[3] From 1808 an originality could also be a single original trait or idea, usually in the plural.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1648 – authenticity, the quality of being primary or first-hand.^[2][5]
• 1742 – the power of original thought or creative invention.^[2][3]
• 1782 – novelty or freshness of style or character.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1787.^[3]
• 1808 – an original trait, act or idea.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being new and different from what has gone before; freshness of style or design: The judges praised the originality of her designs.^[8][5][2]
2. The ability to think independently and produce new ideas; creativity or inventiveness.^[8][2]
3. Something original, such as a trait, idea or act.^[8][2][7]
4. (archaic) The quality of being authentic or genuine.^[5][2]

Word family

• unoriginality

Related words

• original
• origin
• orient

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins