Webster's English Dictionary

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origin

or.i.gin \'o.r-*-j*n, 'a:r-\ n [ME origine, prob. fr. MF, fr. L origin-, 
   origo, fr. oriri] to rise - more at RISE 1: ANCESTRY, PARENTAGE  2a: rise, 
   beginning, or derivation from a source  2b: primary source or cause  3: the 
   more fixed, central, or larger attachment of a muscle  4: the intersection 
   of coordinate axes nt at which something begins its course or existence. 
   ORIGIN applies to the things or persons from which something is ultimately 
   derived and often to the causes operating before the thing itself comes in 
   being; SOURCE applies more often to the point where something springs into 
   being; INCEPTION stresses the beginning of the actual or material existence 
   of something without implication concerning causes; ROOT suggests a first, 
   ultimate, or fundamental source often not easily discerned SYN syn ORIGIN, 
   SOURCE, INCEPTION, ROOT mean the poi