Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words (original) (raw)

original

adjective

1. belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something, or to a thing at its beginning:
   The book still has its original binding.
   Synonyms: primeval, primordial, primitive, primary
2. an original way of advertising.
3. arising or proceeding independently of anything else:
   an original view of history.
4. capable of or given to thinking or acting in an independent, creative, or individual manner:
   an original thinker.
5. created, undertaken, or presented for the first time:
   to give the original performance of a string quartet.
6. being something from which a copy, a translation, or the like is made:
   The original document is in Washington.

noun

1. a primary form or type from which varieties are derived.
   Synonyms: model, prototype, pattern, archetype
   Antonyms: copy
2. an original work, writing, or the like, as opposed to any copy or imitation:
   The original of this is in the British Museum.
3. the person or thing represented by a picture, description, etc.:
   The original is said to have been the painter's own house.
4. a person whose ways of thinking or acting are original:
   In a field of brilliant technicians he is a true original.
5. Archaic. an eccentric person.
6. Archaic. a source of being; an author or originator.

/ əˈrɪdʒɪnəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to an origin or beginning
2. able to think of or carry out new ideas or concepts
3. being that from which a copy, translation, etc, is made

noun

1. the first and genuine form of something, from which others are derived
2. a person or thing used as a model in art or literature
3. a person whose way of thinking is unusual or creative
4. an unconventional or strange person
5. the first form or occurrence of something

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Other Words From

• nono·rigi·nal adjective noun
• nono·rigi·nal·ly adverb
• preo·rigi·nal adjective
• preo·rigi·nal·ly adverb
• quasi-o·rigi·nal adjective
• quasi-o·rigi·nal·ly adverb
• uno·rigi·nal adjective
• uno·rigi·nal·ly adverb

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Word History and Origins

Origin of original1

First recorded in

1300–50; Middle English, from Latin orīginālis (adjective) and Medieval Latin orīgināle “original document” (noun use of neuter adjective), equivalent to orīgin- “beginning, source” + -ālis adjective suffix; origin,

-al 1

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Example Sentences

Making it easier to confine homeless and marginalized people is, to say the least, not a new or original idea.

It has built momentum since its release in June this year, through not only its original tracks, but remixes too.

The original one placed there in 1895 did not mention the slave trade but described Colston as “one of the most virtuous and wise sons of the city”.

Survivors have also put together an exhibition of original art and artefacts associated with the institutions in an exhibition, The Sunflower Project, which is currently on display at Linen Hall Library in Belfast.

In contrast, control mice who had not been subjected to stress exhibited defensive freezing only in response to original sound.