Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Origin

Or′i-gin

,
Noun.
[F.
origine
, L.
origo
,
-iginis
, fr.
oriri
to rise, become visible; akin to Gr.
ὀρνύναι
to stir up, rouse, Skr.
ṛ
, and perh. to E.
run
.]
1.
The first existence or beginning of anything; the birth.
This mixed system of opinion and sentiment had its
origin
in the ancient chivalry.
Burke.
2.
That from which anything primarily proceeds; the fountain; the spring; the cause; the occasion.
3.
(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
.
Syn. – 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.
Tooke.
Famous Greece,
That
source
of art and cultivated thought
Which they to Rome, and Romans hither, brought.
Waller.

Webster 1828 Edition

Origin

OR'IGIN

,
Noun.
[L. origo.]
1.
The first existence or beginning of any thing; as the origin of Rome. In history it is necessary, if practicable, to trace all events to their origin.
2.
Fountain; source; cause; that from which any thing primarily proceeds; that which gives existence or beginning. The apostasy is believed to have been the origin of moral evil. The origin of many of our customs is lost in antiquity. Nations, like individuals, are ambitious to trace their descent from an honorable origin.

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