Definition of origin:

• The point of attachment or end of a muscle which is fixed during contraction; -- in contradistinction to insertion.
• the descendants of one individual; " his entire lineage has been warriors"
• The first existence or beginning of anything; the birth.
• That from which anything primarily proceeds; the fountain; the spring; the cause; the occasion.
• The point of attachment or end of a muscle which is fixed during contraction; - in contradistinction to insertion.
• The beginning of anything; birth; parentage; source; cause; as, the origin of the trouble; derivation; as, the word is of Latin origin.
• 1. The less movable of the two points of attachment of a muscle, that which is attached to the more fixed part of the skeleton. 2. The starting point of a cranial or spinal nerve; the former have two origins: the ental, deep, or real o., the cellgroup in the brain or medulla, whence the fibers of the nerve begin, and the ectal, superficial, or apparent o., the point where the nerve emerges from the brain.
• Cause of growth or development.
• The rising or first existence of anything: that from which anything first proceeds: cause: derivation.
• Beginning; source; cause.
• Beginning; source; cause; parentage.
• The beginning of anything; source; course.
• First existence or beginning; derivation; cause; root; source.

Usage examples for origin

1. I have now described the plan of my story, its aim and origin.  Thaddeus of Warsaw by Jane Porter

2. The story, if story it can be called, bore every trace of its hasty origin.  Life of Charles Dickens by Frank Marzials

3. A half dozen shots fired in quick succession had evidently the same friendly origin.  Susy, A Story of the Plains by Bret Harte

4. But it is right that you should know the origin and progress of our acquaintance.  A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One by Thomas Frognall Dibdin