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:
I assure you that it did not originate in The Onion.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 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
By combining material flow analysis with a multilayer shock propagation model, researchers found that risks often originate in upstream parts of the supply chain but become most severe at key refining and manufacturing bottlenecks.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
And so, to generate $1 billion in triple-B-rated subprime mortgage bonds, Goldman Sachs did not need to originate $50 billion in home loans.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Researchers have spent decades trying to determine where it originates.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
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
The fund that originates the loan holds it to maturity.
From Barron's ● May 30, 2026
Starting June 1, Netflix will air roughly three continuous hours of the live show, which originates from New York hip-hop and R&B station Power 105.1 FM.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
This power, this black power, originates in a view of the American galaxy taken from a dark and essential planet.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“So far, no evidence has been found to indicate that it originated here, yet we are taking every precaution in case that turns out to be the case,” Kershenobich said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Wolf said that Hugging Face initially had no idea where the attack originated when signs of it surfaced in mid-July but that the company was able to contain the breach.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
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
Instead of dividing the detector into millions of tiny units, the system uses advanced camera technology to reconstruct where the light originated.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
A London physician, John Snow, mapped the occurrence of cases and found they originated in one area, all of whose inhabitants drew their water from one pump located on Broad Street.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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
Signals originating from BC6 spread through multiple visual pathways in an organized, hierarchical pattern.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
The jewellery was made with gold, sapphires and emeralds originating from Zambia or Thailand, according to Spanish media.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 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
One rumor originating in Hartman’s Cafe involved Taylor Jones, a rancher whose property adjoins River Valley Farm.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
