originate

Etymology

The OED, revised in 2004, and the Oxford Dictionary of English take it as borrowed from Medieval Latin originō (“to give rise to”), through its past participle stem;^[2][3][4] the Medieval Latin verb is recorded from the second half of the 13th century.^[2] Etymonline, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com consider it probably a back-formation from origination.^[5][6][7] It comes from Latin orīgō (“origin, source”),^[2][3] the source of origin, which comes from orior (“to rise”).^[5] The OED compares Italian originare and Spanish originar.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To trace the origin of something, to derive it from a source: 1653, in E. Waterhouse's Humble Apologie for Learning; this sense is now obsolete.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, to trace the origin of something, did not outlive the 1660s.^[2] From 1668 the verb meant to give rise to, bring into existence,^[2][6] and Johnson (1755) gave only that meaning; his 1773 edition added the intransitive one, to take existence.^[8] The OED records the intransitive sense, to arise or spring from something, from 1758,^[2] and Etymonline dates it to 1775.^[5] In anatomy and zoology it was used from 1795 of a muscle or other part that has its origin in a place.^[2] In American and Canadian English a train or bus is said to originate where its journey starts.^[9][6]

Timeline

• 1653 – to trace the origin of (obsolete by 1660).^[2]
• 1668 – to give rise to, initiate.^[2][6]
• 1758 – intransitive, to arise, come into existence.^[2]
• 1795 – in anatomy, of a muscle, to have its origin.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring into being; to initiate or invent: He originated the scheme in his first year.^[9][6][2]
2. To come into being; to arise or begin, usually with from, in or with: The fire originated in the kitchen.^[9][6][2]
3. Of a muscle or other part of the body, to have its origin or attachment in a place.^[2][6]
4. Of a train, bus or similar service, to start its journey at a given place.^[9][6]

Word family

• origination
• originative
• originatively
• originator
• self-originated

Related words

• origin
• original
• 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 o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins