| Library / English Dictionary |
ORIGIN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Properties attributable to your ancestry
Example:
he comes from good origins
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("origin" is a kind of...):
ancestry; derivation; filiation; lineage (inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "origin"):
full blood (descent from parents both of one pure breed)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The point of intersection of coordinate axes; where the values of the coordinates are all zero
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("origin" is a kind of...):
intersection (a point or set of points common to two or more geometric configurations)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events
Synonyms:
inception; origin; origination
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("origin" is a kind of...):
beginning (the event consisting of the start of something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "origin"):
germination (the origin of some development)
cause (events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something)
overture; preliminary; prelude (something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows)
emanation; procession; rise ((theology) the origination of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost)
Derivation:
originate (bring into being)
originate (come into existence; take on form or shape)
originate (begin a trip at a certain point, as of a plane, train, bus, etc.)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The descendants of one individual
Example:
his entire lineage has been warriors
Synonyms:
ancestry; blood; blood line; bloodline; descent; line; line of descent; lineage; origin; parentage; pedigree; stemma; stock
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("origin" is a kind of...):
family tree; genealogy (successive generations of kin)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "origin"):
family; family line; folk; kinfolk; kinsfolk; phratry; sept (people descended from a common ancestor)
side (a family line of descent)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The place where something begins, where it springs into being
Example:
communism's Russian root
Synonyms:
beginning; origin; root; rootage; source
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("origin" is a kind of...):
point (the precise location of something; a spatially limited location)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "origin"):
trail head; trailhead (the beginning of a trail)
point source (a concentrated source (especially of radiation or pollution) that is spatially constricted)
home (place where something began and flourished)
birthplace; cradle; place of origin; provenance; provenience (where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence)
jumping-off place; point of departure (a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched)
wellhead; wellspring (the source of water for a well)
headwater (the source of a river)
fountainhead; head; headspring (the source of water from which a stream arises)
spring (a point at which water issues forth)
derivation (the source or origin from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues))
Derivation:
originate (begin a trip at a certain point, as of a plane, train, bus, etc.)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The source of something's existence or from which it derives or is derived
Example:
origin in sensation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("origin" is a kind of...):
source ((technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system)
Context examples:
As scientists receive better and better views of the dwarf planet over the next 16 months, they hope to gain a deeper understanding of its origin and evolution by studying its surface.
('Bright Spot' on Ceres Has Dimmer Companion, NASA)
The findings could help researchers understand the origin of the Moon’s water and how easy it would be to use as a resource.
(On Second Thought, the Moon's Water May Be Widespread and Immobile, NASA)
This may be the origin of a type of lake on Titan that has sharp boundaries.
(New Models Suggest Titan Lakes Are Explosion Craters, NASA)
It is characterized by tumor cells with characteristics suggestive of an astrocytic origin (positive for GFAP), arranged perivascularly.
(Astroblastoma, NCI Thesaurus)
Any variation from the normal rate or rhythm (which may include the origin of the impulse and/or its subsequent propagation) in the heart.
(Arrhythmia, NCI Thesaurus)
Common sites of origin include lung, breast, and prostate. —2003
(Metastatic Carcinoma to the Bone, NCI Thesaurus)
“Why do you call to my remembrance,” I rejoined, circumstances of which I shudder to reflect, that I have been the miserable origin and author?
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Harriet would be anxiety enough; she need no longer be unhappy about Jane, whose troubles and whose ill-health having, of course, the same origin, must be equally under cure.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
“This was, in fact, the origin of our acting,” said Tom, after a moment's thought.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
A paraganglioma that is confined to the site of origin, without metastatic potential.
(Benign Paraganglioma, NCI Thesaurus)
