original

American  

[uh-rij-uh-nl] / əˈrɪdʒ ə nl /

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:

   primitive, primeval, primordial, primary

2. new; fresh; inventive; novel.

   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.

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noun

• originals
  plural

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.

original British  

/ əˈrɪdʒɪnəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to an origin or beginning

2. fresh and unusual; novel

3. able to think of or carry out new ideas or concepts

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

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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

6. an archaic word for originator See originator

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonoriginal
  adjective
• preoriginal
  adjective
• quasi-original
  adjective
• unoriginal
  adjective
• nonoriginally
  adverb
• preoriginally
  adverb
• quasi-originally
  adverb
• unoriginally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• originals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of original

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; see origin, -al ¹

Explanation

When you buy a car from its original owner, you know it's only been owned by one person. Original means "the very first." Original comes from the Latin word originem, which means "beginning or birth." Whether you're using it as an adjective to describe something that is literally the very first, or as a noun meaning something that serves as a model for making copies, original means "first." Even when you describe an original idea, meaning "something fresh or unusual," you're talking about the first idea of its kind.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

original originals

Using the original ZTF observations, they identified its source as an object roughly 300 light-years away in the Milky Way.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

Ireland recommended hiking some of the levies but stuck more or less to the commission's original lines, saying the measures it was putting forward would raise 55 billion euros a year.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

The Music Man Project is a charity based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, that teaches children and adults with learning disabilities to sing, sign and play original music.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

In Arizona, the original developer for the first Mattel Adventure Park exited the project and a neighboring resort took over.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

It’s the most parodied painting in history, but every parody just draws more attention to the original.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

“That journey for us really expressed a selling point of the show, what makes ‘Industry’ unique,” said Mark Doumet, vice president of originals marketing for HBO and HBO Max.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

And Everton remain one of only six Premier League originals, along with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who have never dropped out of the top tier.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Blue Note Records released her breakthrough solo LP, 1993’s “Blue Light ‘Til Dawn,” a mix of originals and covers of work by blues pioneer Robert Johnson and folk singers Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

When mediocrity is the core objective of an extremely powerful company like this one, success hinges on turning the once-discerning viewer into a machine cog as mindless as one of Netflix’s baffling originals.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

“You should come up now. Your family’s here—remember us? The originals? We’re here and we’re hungry, and we didn’t come all this way to hang out with your new wife and child.”

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

Related Words

• creative
• imaginative
• innovative
• inventive
• seminal
• unconventional
• unusual