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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

original.

Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.

8 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.nəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈɹəd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/New-Zealand
  1. Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.

    not-comparable
    the original state of mankind;  the original laws of a country;  the original inventor of a process
  2. First in a series of copies or versions.

    not-comparable
    The original manuscript contained spelling errors which were fixed in later versions.
    This recording is by the original broadway cast.
  3. Newly created.

    not-comparable
    Tonight we will hear an original work by one of our best composers.
  4. Fresh, different.

    comparable
    The paper contains a number of original ideas about color perception.
  5. Pioneering.

    not-comparable
    Parker was one of the original bebop players.
  6. Having a specified place or time as its origin.

    not-comparable
    This kind of barbecue is original to North Carolina.
  7. Unseasoned, unflavored, plain, or having a standard or typical flavor; classic, traditional

Where this word comes from

From Middle English original, from Old French original, from Late Latin orīginālis (“primitive, original”), from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source, origin”), equivalent to origin + -al; see origin.

noun/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.nəl/Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈɹəd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/New-Zealand
  1. An object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived.

    This manuscript is the original.
  2. A person with a unique and interesting personality or creative talent.

  3. An eccentric person.

    archaic
  4. A newly designed garment released by a fashion designer as part of a collection.

  5. A ridgeling.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English original, from Old French original, from Late Latin orīginālis (“primitive, original”), from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source, origin”), equivalent to origin + -al; see origin.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.