originate
Americanverb (used without object)
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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)
verb
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to come or bring into being
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(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:
The deal with Disney will make use of those funds, Amaya said, adding that many food trends these days originate in restaurants and entertainment venues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The freezer aisle, from whence many of its contents originate, does not do much to help the case.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
"A sustained effort is needed to tackle the root causes of poor behaviour, which often originate from challenges in children's lives outside the classroom, from poverty to mental health issues."
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
These molecules originate from living organisms and are also found in petroleum on Earth.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
All cancers originate from a single cell gone wrong and are categorized based on the type of cell they start from.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Further, a household can only deduct mortgage interest on a maximum of $750,000 of combined debt on the two properties when the debt originates on or after Dec. 15, 2017.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 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
Around 85% of Anthropic’s revenue is enterprise-based, while the majority of Open AI’s turnover originates from ChatGPT consumer subscriptions, the vast majority of which are free tier, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
The modeling indicates that almost all of the TFA detected there originates from CFC replacement chemicals, despite the region being far removed from major sources of emissions.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 9, 2026
The information, oddly, originates from the regional director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Last year, Morgan Stanley says, one-fifth of the buying demand for gold originated with ETFs, however that positive sentiment has been disrupted by the Gulf crisis, and the prospect of rate hikes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
The other train had been travelling in the same direction and was running ahead of the Corby service, having originated in Nottingham at 15:50.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The brushfire originated near Ladera Ranch’s Narrow Canyon Road and Acaster Way on Tuesday afternoon and spread across seven acres before firefighters were able to get it under control.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Normally, carmakers can easily trace where potentially problematic parts originated and how they were imported, but with the substandard air-bag parts, there are no records of who sent them to the U.S. and distributed them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The term originated from an army report of May 24, 1861.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
If you’re unfamiliar with hobby horsing, it’s a sport originating from Finland that’s growing in popularity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
Under the restrictive measures, EU individuals and companies are prohibited from purchasing, importing or transporting gold originating in Sudan.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Tumor cells originating in the central nervous system displayed a moderate level of sensitivity to the treatment.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 27, 2026
But it is worth remembering that inflationary forces originating with that accord helped cause the 1987 stock market crash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
As early societies developed, those acquiring centralized power gradually established themselves as an elite, perhaps originating as one of several formerly equal-ranked village clans that became “more equal” than the others.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
