Word.ws English Dictionary

original

Syllables: o·rig·i·nalUK/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

New Zealand/əˈɹəd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/

original adjective: relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.

Adjective

original (comparative more original, superlative most original)

  1. (not comparable) Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.
    • the original state of mankind; the original laws of a country; the original inventor of a process
    • The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL
    Synonyms:
    primary
  2. (not comparable) First in a series of copies or versions.
    • The original manuscript contained spelling errors which were fixed in later versions.
    • This recording is by the original broadway cast.
    Synonyms:
    initial, primary
  3. (not comparable) Newly created.
    • Tonight we will hear an original work by one of our best composers.
  4. (comparable) Fresh, different.
    • The paper contains a number of original ideas about color perception.
    • Devoid of context, the image is intriguing, promising something utterly original and deeply fucked up.2017 February 23, Katie Rife, “The Girl With All The Gifts tries to put a fresh spin on overripe zombie clichés”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2017
  5. (not comparable) Pioneering.
    • Parker was one of the original bebop players.
  6. (not comparable) Having a specified place or time as its origin.
    • This kind of barbecue is original to North Carolina.
  7. Unseasoned, unflavored, plain, or having a standard or typical flavor; classic, traditional

Noun

original (plural originals)

  1. An object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived.
    • This manuscript is the original.
    • Promontory's "last spike" ceremony was so significant to the USA's history that it is still regularly re-enacted today, using replica locomotives that nose up to each other just as the originals did.2025 November 12, Tony Streeter, “All around the world”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 42
    Synonyms:
    prototype
  2. A person with a unique and interesting personality or creative talent.
    • I have a great mind to be in Print; but above all, I would fain be an Original, and that is a true Comical Thought: When all the Learned Men in the World are but Tranſlators, is it not a Pleaſant Jeſt, that you ſhould ſtrive to be an Original! You ſhould have obſerved your Time, and have come into...1700, Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London, page 5
    • Ahmad (1969) studied the personality differences among middle school girls identified as originals and unoriginals on the Minnesota's test of creative thinking.1975, The Educational Trends, volumes 10-14, page 59
  3. (archaic) An eccentric person.
    • ‘Are you an alienist?’ I interrupted. ‘Every doctor should be - a little,’ answered that original, imperturbably.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 201
  4. A newly designed garment released by a fashion designer as part of a collection.
    • Fashion Fair will give every section first hand knowledge of the latest originals and 1962-63's exciting trends.1962, “It's Fashion fair time again”, in Ebony, volume 17, number 11, page 126
    • One such show was built around the Du Pont spring collection of Paris originals.1963, National Retail Merchants Association. Sales Promotion Division, The NRMA Sales Promotion Encyclopedia, Vol. II., page 175
  5. A ridgeling.

original meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

original in Hindi

original, basic, fundamental
मूल mūl
original
मूल mūl, आदि ādi, ज़ाती zātī
original, to distinguish the raga from other varieties bearing the same name
शुद्ध śuddh

original in Tamil

அசல், அசலான, மூலமான

original in Urdu

original
اصلی aslī, ذاتی zātī
original, basic, fundamental
مول mūl
original, genuine
اصل asl

original in Bengali

newly created
অপূর্ব opurbo
fresh, different
অপূর্ব opurbo
More languagesFewer languages
original in Telugu
ప్రకృతి prakr̥ti, అసలు asalu
original in Malayalam
ഒറിജിനൽ oṟijinal, തനത് tanatŭ
original in Kannada
ಪಾಗದ pāgada, ಪ್ರಾಕೃತ prākṛta
original in Punjabi
ਮੂਲ
original in Gujarati
મૂળ mūḷ
original in Sanskrit
प्रथम prathamá
original in Nepali
ओरिजिनल
original in Pashto
آره āra, آر ār
original in Tagalog
orihinal
original in Arabic
أَصْلِيّ ʔaṣliyy
original in Indonesian
orisinal
original in Persian
اصلی asli, اریژینال orižinâl
original in Vietnamese
gốc, nguyên bản

Examples of original in a sentence

  • The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway,[…].1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
  • The originals or the creatives were more dominant than the unoriginals or the low creatives.2010, A. Kusuma, Creativity and Cognitive Styles in Children, page 73:

All 40 example sentences with original

Synonyms of original

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of original

Forms of original

Adjective
comparativemore original
superlativemost original
Noun
pluraloriginals

Plural of original: originals

Origin of original

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.

Words formed from original

Phrases with original

Questions about original

What does original mean?
Original means relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.
What is original in Hindi?
Original in Hindi is मूल (mūl), आदि (ādi), ज़ाती (zātī). See Original meaning in Hindi.
How do you use original in a sentence?
The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway,[…].
What part of speech is original?
Original can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce original?
Original is pronounced /əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/ (UK).

Words near original in the dictionary

  1. origin myths
  2. origin of coordinates
  3. origin stories
  4. origin story
  5. originable
  6. original
  7. original antigenic sin
  8. original as sin
  9. original aspect ratio
  10. original aspect ratios
  11. original character

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: original (page history and authors); आदि (Hindi) (page history and authors); original (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اصل (Urdu) (page history and authors); అసలు (Telugu) (page history and authors); ഒറിജിനൽ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಪಾಗದ (Kannada) (page history and authors); original (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); મૂળ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); original (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); آر (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-original.ogg.

Cite this entry: “original.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/original. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.