originate

[uh-rij-uh-neyt]

verb (used without object)

originated, originating 

1. to take its origin or rise; begin; start; arise.

   The practice originated during the Middle Ages.

2. (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)

originated, originating 

1. to give origin or rise to; initiate; invent.

   to originate a better method.

originate

/ əˈrɪdʒɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. to come or bring into being

2. (intr) (of a bus, train, etc) to begin its journey at a specified point

Other Word Forms

• originable adjective
• origination noun
• originator noun
• self-originated adjective
• self-originating adjective
• self-origination noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of originate¹

First recorded in 1645–55; probably back formation from origination (from French ), from Latin orīginātiō “etymology”; origin, -ate ¹, ion

Synonym Study

See discover.

Example Sentences

The blaze originated in a processing unit in the southeast corner of the refinery.

From Los Angeles Times

Officials have been unable to identify where the drones originated or who operated them.

From BBC

Freemasons wear symbolic aprons and progress through degrees of membership, with the phrase "giving someone the third degree" originating from its final stage of initiation.

From BBC

The next storm, the Iraq War, gave “The Daily Show” vigorous purpose as the hot blade slicing through the hawkish, Islamophobic spin originating from the Bush-Cheney White House, and amplified by Fox News.

From Salon

It comes from the Welsh pwdu, meaning to sulk, which itself originated with the English word pout, combined with the Welsh verb-forming suffix -u.

From BBC

Related Words

• conceive 
• develop 
• discover 
• evolve 
• found 
• generate 
• hatch 
• initiate 
• invent 
• produce 
• spark 
• spawn