original

/əˈrɪdʒɪnəl/

/əˈrɪdʒɪnəl/

Other forms: originals

When you buy a car from its original owner, you know it's only been owned by one person. Original means "the very first."

Original comes from the Latin word originem, which means "beginning or birth." Whether you're using it as an adjective to describe something that is literally the very first, or as a noun meaning something that serves as a model for making copies, original means "first." Even when you describe an original idea, meaning "something fresh or unusual," you're talking about the first idea of its kind.

Definitions of original

1. adjective

   preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed
   “the original inhabitants of the Americas”

   “the book still has its original binding”

   “restored the house to its original condition”

   “the original performance of the opera”

   “the original cast”

   “retracted his original statement”

   synonyms:

   first

   preceding all others in time or space or degree
2. adjective

   being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of
   “a truly original approach”

   “with original music”

   “an original mind”

   synonyms:

   unconventional

   not conforming to accepted rules or standards

   creative, originative

   having the ability or power to create, especially something new or imaginative

   first

   preceding all others in time or space or degree

   avant-garde, daring

   radically new or original

   freehand, freehanded

   done by hand without mechanical aids or devices

   fresh, new, novel

   original and of a kind not seen before

   germinal, originative, seminal

   containing seeds of later development

   groundbreaking, innovational, innovative

   being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before

   new, newfangled

   (of a new kind or fashion) gratuitously new

   underivative

   not derivative or imitative

   primary

   of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary

   antonyms:

   unoriginal

   not original; not being or productive of something fresh and unusual

   conventional

   following accepted customs and proprieties

   uncreative

   not creative

   stale

   lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age

   banal, commonplace, hackneyed, old-hat, shopworn, stock, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, well-worn

   repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

   bromidic, corny, platitudinal, platitudinous

   dull and tiresome but with pretensions of significance or originality

   cliched, ready-made

   repeated regularly without thought or originality

   cold, dusty, moth-eaten, stale

   lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new

   slavish

   blindly imitative

   secondary

   being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate
3. adjective

   not derived or copied or translated from something else
   “the play is original”

   “he kept the original copy and gave her only a xerox”

   “the translation misses much of the subtlety of the original French”

   synonyms:

   underived

   not derived; primary or simple
4. adjective

   (of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary
   “his work is based on only original, not secondary, sources”

   synonyms:

   primary

   of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary
5. noun

   an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made
   synonyms: master, master copy

   type of:

   creation

   an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone
6. noun

   something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies
   “this painting is a copy of the original”

   synonyms: archetype, pilot

   types:

   prototype

   the first functional model of some new design or product

   type of:

   example, model

   a representative form or pattern