original

[uh-rij-uh-nl]

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adjective

belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something, or to a thing at its beginning: The book still has its original binding.

new; fresh; inventive; novel: an original way of advertising.

arising or proceeding independently of anything else: an original view of history.

capable of or given to thinking or acting in an independent, creative, or individual manner: an original thinker.

created, undertaken, or presented for the first time: to give the original performance of a string quartet.

being something from which a copy, a translation, or the like is made: The original document is in Washington.

noun

a primary form or type from which varieties are derived.

an original work, writing, or the like, as opposed to any copy or imitation: The original of this is in the British Museum.

the person or thing represented by a picture, description, etc.: The original is said to have been the painter's own house.

a person whose ways of thinking or acting are original: In a field of brilliant technicians he is a true original.

Archaic. an eccentric person.

Archaic. a source of being; an author or originator.

Nearby words

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

SYNONYMS FOR original

1. primary, primordial, primeval, primitive, aboriginal. 7. archetype, pattern, prototype, model.

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ANTONYMS FOR original

7. copy.

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Related forms

non·o·rig·i·nal, adjective, nounnon·o·rig·i·nal·ly, adverbpre·o·rig·i·nal, adjectivepre·o·rig·i·nal·ly, adverb

qua·si-o·rig·i·nal, adjectivequa·si-o·rig·i·nal·ly, adverbun·o·rig·i·nal, adjectiveun·o·rig·i·nal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for original

It was original in how it treated Nixon and his connection to the right before 1968.
Thank Congress, Not LBJ for Great Society|Julian Zelizer, Scott Porch|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Obviously, not all the original cast can come back or even have the desire.
Juiciest ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Rumors (and Some Debunked Ones)|Rich Goldstein|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The source code for the original “Shamoon” malware is widely known to have leaked.
No, North Korea Didn’t Hack Sony|Marc Rogers|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The owner of the original video of the “dead cops” chant told me it was taken on 32nd Street between 5th and Madison avenues.
The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops|Jacob Siegel|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

On piano was legendary session man Billy Preston, who co-wrote and recorded the original version one year before Cocker's.
Joe Cocker's Deep Live Cuts|Asawin Suebsaeng|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Exile was then imposed as a penance on Columba, whose act had been the original cause of offence.
Ireland under the Tudors, Volume I (of II)|Richard Bagwell
We had succeeded beyond his expectations, and the correctness of his original theory had been fully demonstrated.
Bucholz and the Detectives|Allan Pinkerton
He gave his rude children a noble moral code, the original form of the Decalogue.
The Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible|R. Heber Newton
And then falls to studying his original in minute points of detail.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood|Charles Dickens
Strutt believed that nuts of the roundest sort were the original “marbles.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 6|Various

British Dictionary definitions for original

original

adjective

of or relating to an origin or beginning

fresh and unusual; novel

able to think of or carry out new ideas or concepts

being that from which a copy, translation, etc, is made

noun

the first and genuine form of something, from which others are derived

a person or thing used as a model in art or literature

a person whose way of thinking is unusual or creative

an unconventional or strange person

the first form or occurrence of something

an archaic word for originatorSee originator

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for original

original

adj.

early 14c., "first in time, earliest," from Old French original "first" (13c.) and directly from Latin originalis, from originem (nominative origo) "beginning, source, birth," from oriri "to rise" (see orchestra). The first reference is in original sin "innate depravity of man's nature," supposed to be inherited from Adam in consequence of the Fall. Related: Originally.

original

"original text," late 14c., from Medieval Latin originale (see original (adj.)). Of photographs, films, sound recordings, etc., from 1918.

original

adjective

noun

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Examples from the Web for original

original

adjective

noun

original

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