originate
Americanverb (used without object)
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originates,
present (3rd person singular)
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originated,
past participle, past
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originating
present participle
-
to take its origin or rise; begin; start; arise.
The practice originated during the Middle Ages.
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(of a train, bus, or other public conveyance) to begin a scheduled run at a specified place.
This train originates at Philadelphia.
verb (used with object)
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originates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
originated,
past participle, past
-
originating
present participle
verb
-
to come or bring into being
-
(intr) (of a bus, train, etc) to begin its journey at a specified point
Synonym Usage
See discover.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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originationnoun
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originatornoun
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self-originationnoun
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originableadjective
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self-originatedadjective
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self-originatingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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originatesimple
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originatessimple
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have originatedperfect
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has originatedperfect
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am originatingprogressive
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are originatingprogressive
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is originatingprogressive
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have been originatingperfect progressive
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has been originatingperfect progressive
Past
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originatedsimple
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had originatedperfect
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was originatingprogressive
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were originatingprogressive
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had been originatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of originate
First recorded in 1645–55; probably back formation from origination (from French ), from Latin orīginātiō “etymology”; see origin, -ate 1, ion
Explanation
Originate is a verb that means to start or create something. You can originate the idea of adding a fancy new coffee machine to your company's break room, and before long, your entire office could be happily drinking mocha lattes. Originate is the place or point at which any new thing or idea starts. It usually doesn't end there, though. A carpet that originates in Turkey can travel all the way to an apartment in New York. A rumor can originate during first period, but by lunchtime it will have made its way around the entire high school.
Vocabulary lists containing originate
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Jumpstart Your Vocab: Synonyms for "Begin"
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Ten Words from Today's NY Times - June 6, 2012
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Hydrogen cyanide appears to originate mostly from the comet's central body, or nucleus.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
The treaty governs the use of water from six rivers, whose headwaters originate in India but flow into Pakistan as part of the Indus basin -- a resource relied on by hundreds of millions.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
Because many microglia in aging humans appear to originate from blood stem cells, anything that changes cells in the blood or bone marrow could potentially influence the brain as well.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Americans are awash in scams, and while some swindles originate overseas, they are increasingly coming from closer to home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Such diamonds are already known to exist in meteorites that have survived impact, and that may originate ultimately from comets.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The Fed could decide that much of the recent inflation pressure originates from energy and geopolitical disruption and leave rates unchanged.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
The classic example is of dubious historical accuracy, but originates from the British occupation of India.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
The Rhine originates in the Swiss Alps, flows through and along the borders of several countries, and empties into the North Sea in the Netherlands.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
He says that in his homeland there is much more focus on quality and that people are most concerned about where the product originates and what it tastes like.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
The saying originates with Bernard of Chartres in the twelfth century, but is now usually quoted from one of Newton’s letters: ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
The TV series originated with a 2022 scripted podcast, produced by Criminal Content and also called “American Hostage,” on which Hamm also played the role of Heckman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Iraq said it had fired a military commander and launched an investigation after admitting the drone attack on its neighbour's East-West pipeline had originated in one of its provinces bordering Iran.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
The incidents were found and disrupted between January and July, and they originated in China, Iran and west Africa, Anthropic said in a report about misuse of its models.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
GRAIL’s Galleri test looks for methylation patterns in DNA that may indicate a cancer signal and predict where it originated.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Secondly, there was a particular type of syncopation that originated in son that proved irresistible to late-twentieth-century ears.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The central possibility remains compelling: some changes associated with aging may be influenced by signals originating in a small part of the brain.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
The Systemiq research estimates that roughly a third of Himalayan glacier melt is driven by black carbon, much of it originating from brick kilns in the plains.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
While species originating from "very hot countries are feeling comfortable", Martin said that "species from more temperate environments may have suffered more".
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
This lending system invites moral hazard, as non-banks make money by originating more mortgages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Texas joke, on the other hand, is a revered institution, beloved and in many cases originating in Texas.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
