original

[ uh-rij-uh-nl ]
/ əˈrɪdʒ ə nl /

adjective

noun

Origin of original

1300–50; Middle English < Latin orīginālis (adj.) and Medieval Latin orīgināle original document (noun use of neuter adj.), equivalent to orīgin- (see origin) + -ālis -al1

historical usage of original

English original comes from Anglo-French and Middle French from Old French originel “innate, by birth, by nature.” (The 14th-century term original sin “the innate human tendency to evil” is a translation from the phrase in Old French.) The French forms come from the Latin adjective orīginālis “existing at or marking the beginning,” and in Late Latin meaning “primitive.”
Orīginālis is a derivative of the noun orīgō (inflectional stem orīgin- ) “beginning, first appearance, starting point.” Orīgō is a compound whose main element is the verb orīrī “(of the sun or moon) to rise, get out of bed, begin (an activity), sprout, spring up.” The present participle of orīrī is oriēns (inflectional stem orient- ) “the rising sun, daybreak, the east,” and is the ultimate source of English orient.
The earliest sense of original was “belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something”; the meaning “new, inventive, novel” dates from the mid-18th century.

OTHER WORDS FROM original

Example sentences from the Web for original

British Dictionary definitions for original

original
/ (əˈrɪdʒɪnəl) /

adjective

noun