Ō'ri-ğin, n.
n. [Fr. & It. origine, Sp. origen, Lat. origo, originis, from oriri, to rise, become visible.] 1. The first existence or beginning of any thing; the source; the birth; the commencement.
This mixed system of opinion and sentiment had its origin in the ancient chivalry. Burke.
Sense 2. That from which any thing primarily proceeds; the fountain; the spring; the cause; the occasion.
Synonyms—Commencement; rise; source; spring; fountain; derivation; cause; root; foundation.—ORIGIN, SOURCE. Origin denotes the rise or commencement of a thing; source presents itself under the image of a fountain flowing forth in a continuous stream of influences. The origin of moral evil has been much disputed, but no one can doubt that it is the source of most of the calamities of our race. “I think he would have set out just as he did, with the origin of ideas—the proper starting-post of a grammarian, who is to treat of their signs.” Tooke.
Famous Greece, That source of art and cultivated thought Which they to Rome, and Romans hither, brought. Walter.