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/ˈɔrədʒən/ Listen

noun

Origin n.

The first existence or beginning of anything; the birth. "This mixed system of opinion and sentiment had its origin in the ancient chivalry."

That from which anything primarily proceeds; the fountain; the spring; the cause; the occasion.

(Anat.) The point of attachment or end of a muscle which is fixed during contraction; in contradistinction to insertion.

Origin of coordinate axes (Math.), the point where the axes intersect. See Note under Ordinate.

Synonyms: Commencement; rise; source; spring; fountain; derivation; cause; root; foundation. Origin, Source. Origin denotes the rise or commencement of a thing; source presents itself under the image of a fountain flowing forth in a continuous stream of influences. The origin of moral evil has been much disputed, but no one can doubt that it is the source of most of the calamities of our race. "I think he would have set out just as he did, with the origin of ideas the proper starting point of a grammarian, who is to treat of their signs." "Famous Greece, That source of art and cultivated thought Which they to Rome, and Romans hither, brought."

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Etymology of 'Origin'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Origin" Quotes from Famous Books

... dieted solely on mutton; hence they are familiarly and vulgarly termed "mutton-tugs," abbreviated to "tugs," which homely monosyllable they themselves derive from togati, on account of their wearing the toga—had they not better trace their origin at once from that mysterious and secret society of the Thugs of India? But their internal economy should be treated with diffidence, for between them and the oppidans there was ever an undefined, though "great ...

— Confessions of an Etonian • I. E. M.

... of Smith's Pocket owed its origin to the finding of a "pocket" on its site by a veritable Smith. Five thousand dollars were taken out of it in one half-hour by Smith. Three thousand dollars were expended by Smith and others in erecting a flume and in tunneling. And then Smith's Pocket ...

— Selected Stories • Bret Harte

... the work of the Indians. Until the Senecas, who are renowned for their national vanity, had seen the attention of the Americans attracted to these erections, and had invented the fabulous account of which I have spoken, the Indians of the present day did not pretend to know any thing about their origin. They were beyond the reach of all their traditions, and were lost in the abyss of ...

— A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America • S. A. Ferrall

... now to pass to another enquiry. We have seen that art and ritual, not only in Greece but in Egypt and Palestine, are closely linked. So closely, indeed, are they linked that we even begin to suspect they may have a common origin. We have now to ask, what is it that links art and ritual so closely together, what have they in common? Do they start from the same impulse, and if so why do they, as they develop, fall ...

— Ancient Art and Ritual • Jane Ellen Harrison

... works of Asia, China and Japan are taken almost entirely from the Hindu, while in Southern Russia the meagre literature of the Kalmucks is borrowed entirely from the same source. The Ramayana, or great Hindu poem, must have had its origin in the history-to-be of Christ. It has been translated into Italian and published in Paris. The Hitopadesa, a collection of fables and apologues, has been translated into more languages than any book except the Bible. It has found ...

— The Interdependence of Literature • Georgina Pell Curtis

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