originate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
originates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
originated,
past participle, past
-
originating
present participle
-
to take its origin or rise; begin; start; arise.
The practice originated during the Middle Ages.
-
(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)
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originates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
originated,
past participle, past
-
originating
present participle
verb
-
to come or bring into being
-
(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 meteors will appear to originate from the constellation of Orion, near the red supergiant star Betelgeuse.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
"The fire did originate within the training area and did cross established fire guards before being contained, in conjunction with municipal authorities," Rutland said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
Several major rivers flowing through these countries originate on the Tibetan Plateau.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Because stars and their surrounding disks originate from the same cloud of material, scientists have long assumed that they contain similar proportions of rock-forming elements.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 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
"I’m very worried because it’s a new phenomenon, which also originates from an international scenario and therefore feeds itself."
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
The Afrobeats genre, which originates from West Africa, has massively grown in recent years - dominating playlists and seeing artists, including Starr, featuring at major festivals such as Glastonbury.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Researchers now want to determine exactly how much gas these winds remove over time and identify where within the disk the escaping material originates.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
The Fed could decide that much of the recent inflation pressure originates from energy and geopolitical disruption and leave rates unchanged.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
It does not matter if it originates in a misunderstanding.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The film, which marks the comedian's debut as a director, revives the persona that originated in a British television segment and went on to star in "Da Ali G Show."
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
The Danish Environment Protection Agency has now confirmed tests carried out on the microplastics suggest they originated from the River Tyne spill in August.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
The second category originated during the extreme temperatures reached inside the reactor.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
Although reggaeton originated in the streets, the genre hit its zenith in the mainstream this year, thanks to Bad Bunny’s historic Super Bowl halftime show and Karol G’s headlining set at Coachella.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 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
“By originating and terminating Orange County Line trains at Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo, Metrolink can maintain a more predictable schedule for customers across the system,” Metrolink said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
The chemistry prize follows the physics prize, which on Tuesday honoured Belgian physicist Francis Halzen for groundbreaking work using Antarctic ice to capture particles originating in the distant cosmos.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
And Meta has previously removed an influence campaign originating from France that targeted a number of countries in Africa, external.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
In a one line order, Kagan, who is assigned to review emergency requests originating from California, declined to disturb that ruling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The Texas joke, on the other hand, is a revered institution, beloved and in many cases originating in Texas.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
