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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.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, Australian) IPA^(key): /əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/, /əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/, /əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.nəl/

• Audio (US):

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• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /əˈɹəd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/, /əˈɹəd͡ʒ.nəl/
• IPA^(key): (obsolete) /ɒˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/^[1]
• Hyphenation: o‧rig‧i‧nal, orig‧i‧nal

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

   • 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick‎^[2], →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL:

     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.

2. (not comparable) First in a series of copies or versions.

   Synonym: initial

   The original manuscript contained spelling errors which were fixed in later versions.

   This recording is by the original broadway cast.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     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, […].

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.

   • 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^[3], archived from the original on 18 August 2017:

     Devoid of context, the image is intriguing, promising something utterly original and deeply fucked up.

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. (of food) Unseasoned, unflavored, plain, or having a standard or typical flavor; classic, traditional

• → Japanese: オリジナル (orijinaru)
• → Malay: original

original (plural originals)

1. An object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived.

   Synonym: prototype

   Antonyms: copy, derivative, remake, reproduction, ultimate

   Hyponym: autograph

   This manuscript is the original.

   • 2025 November 12, Tony Streeter, “All around the world”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 42:

     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.

2. A person with a unique and interesting personality or creative talent.
   • 1700, Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London, page 5:

     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 the World with the Ancient Greeks for that purpoſe; for the Latines themſelves are but Copies.

   • 1975, The Educational Trends, volumes 10-14, page 59:

     Ahmad (1969) studied the personality differences among middle school girls identified as originals and unoriginals on the Minnesota's test of creative thinking.

   • 2010, A. Kusuma, Creativity and Cognitive Styles in Children, page 73:

     The originals or the creatives were more dominant than the unoriginals or the low creatives.

3. (archaic) An eccentric person.
   • 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:

     ‘Are you an alienist?’ I interrupted. ‘Every doctor should be - a little,’ answered that original, imperturbably.

4. A newly designed garment released by a fashion designer as part of a collection.
   • 1962, “It's Fashion fair time again”, in Ebony, volume 17, number 11, page 126:

     Fashion Fair will give every section first hand knowledge of the latest originals and 1962-63's exciting trends.

   • 1963, National Retail Merchants Association. Sales Promotion Division, The NRMA Sales Promotion Encyclopedia, Vol. II., page 175:

     One such show was built around the Du Pont spring collection of Paris originals.

5. A ridgeling.

• autograph
• prototype

• (antonym(s) of “first in a series”):
  • copy, reproduction, simile (imitation)
  • derivative (branch)
  • ultimate (last, extreme)

• → Japanese: オリジナル (orijinaru)
• → Korean: 오리지널 (orijineol)

• “original”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “original”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Borrowed from Latin orīginālis. First attested in the 14th century.^[1]

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [u.ɾi.ʒiˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Northwestern) [o.ɾi.ʒiˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [o.ɾi.d͡ʒiˈnal]

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original m or f (masculine and feminine plural originals)

1. original

• originalitat
• originalment

• origen

• “original”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “original” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “original”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

original (neuter originalt, plural and definite singular attributive originale)

1. original

original c (singular definite originalen, plural indefinite originaler)

1. an original

• “original” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “original” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Borrowed from Latin orīginālis. Doublet of originel.

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.ʁi.ʒi.nal/

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• Homophones: originale, originales

original (feminine originale, masculine plural originaux, feminine plural originales)

1. original

   Antonyms: banal, copié, reproduit, vulgaire

• Not to be confused with originel.

original m (plural originaux)

1. an unusual or eccentric person

   Synonym: drôle d'oiseau

2. an original manuscript

   Synonym: autographe

• “original”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Borrowed from French original, from Old French original, from Late Latin orīginālis (“primitive, original”), from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source, origin”). Doublet of originell.

• IPA^(key): /oʁiɡiˈnaːl/
• Rhymes: -aːl

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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original (strong nominative masculine singular originaler, comparative originaler, superlative am originalsten)

1. original

original

1. (colloquial, intensifier) really, actually

   Synonyms: echt, wirklich

   • 1997, Alexa Hennig von Lange, chapter 1, in Relax‎^[4]:

     Wo ist jetzt diese verdammte Schachtel? Hier finde ich original nichts wieder.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “original” in Duden online
• “original”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[5] (in German)

• ori (clipping)

Borrowed from English original, from Middle English original, from Old French original, from Late Latin orīginālis (“primitive, original”), from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source, origin”).

• (English-based) IPA^(key): [ɔ.ri.d͡ʒi.nəl]
  • Rhymes: -nəl, -əl
• (Literary Standard) IPA^(key): [ɔ.ri.ɡi.nal]
  • Rhymes: -nal, -al
• Hyphenation: o‧ri‧gi‧nal

original (Jawi spelling اوريݢينل, comparative lebih original, superlative paling original)

1. (informal) Not fake; original.

   Synonyms: asli, tulen

   Antonym: tiruan

• "original" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

• oryginall, origynall, orygynal, orygynall, origynal, oryginal, oregynall, originalle, originall

From Old French original, from Late Latin orīginālis; equivalent to origyne +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /ɔˌrid͡ʒiˈnal/, /ɔˈrid͡ʒinal/

original (plural and weak singular originale)

1. original, primordial; preceding everything else
2. connected to the origin or beginning of something

• originali

• English: original
• Scots: original, oreeginal

• “orī̆ǧinā̆l(e, adj.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 26 February 2019.

original (plural originals) (Late Middle English)

1. the origin, lineage, or provenance of something
2. the authoritative, authorial, or primordial version of a work or source
3. (rare) something that isn't living or artificial; a primordial element
4. (rare) a reason, factor, or generator of something
5. (rare) the root or etymological ancestor of a word
6. (rare, religion) the making of the universe
7. (rare, law) a legal document beginning legal action

• originali

• English: original
• Scots: original, oreeginal

• “orī̆ǧinā̆l(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 26 February 2019.

From Latin orīginālis; the noun being derived from the adjective.

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original (neuter singular originalt, definite singular and plural originale)

1. original

original m (definite singular originalen, indefinite plural originaler, definite plural originalene)

1. an original

• “original” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Latin orīginālis; the noun being derived from the adjective.

original (neuter singular originalt, definite singular and plural originale)

1. original

original m (definite singular originalen, indefinite plural originalar, definite plural originalane)

1. an original

• “original” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Latin orīginālis.

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original m (feminine singular originala, masculine plural originals, feminine plural originalas)

1. original

• originalitat
• originalament

• origina

• oreginal, originall, origynal, orygenal

Learned borrowing from Latin orīginālis.

original m or f (plural originais)

1. original (relating to the origin or beginning)

original m (plural originais)

1. original (origin of later copies)

• Fala: (Valverdeñu, Mañegu) original, (Lagarteiru) uriginal
• Galician: orixinal
• Portuguese: original

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “original”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2020–2026), “original”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do português medieval [Historical and chronological vocabulary of Medieval Portuguese] (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “original”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese original, from Latin orīginālis.

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

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• Rhymes: (Brazil) -aw, (Portugal) -al
• Hyphenation: o‧ri‧gi‧nal

original m or f (plural originais)

1. original (relating to the origin or beginning)
2. original (being the first in a series)
3. original (different; unique)

• origem

original m (plural originais)

1. original (origin of later copies)

• “original”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “original”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “original”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from Latin originalis or French original. By surface analysis, origine +‎ -al.

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original m or n (feminine singular originală, masculine plural originali, feminine/neuter plural originale)

1. original

• IPA^(key): /oriɡǐnaːl/
• Hyphenation: o‧ri‧gi‧nal

origìnāl m inan (Cyrillic spelling оригѝна̄л)

1. original

   Antonym: falsifikat

Borrowed from Latin orīginālis.

• IPA^(key): /oɾixiˈnal/ [o.ɾi.xiˈnal]

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• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: o‧ri‧gi‧nal

original m or f (masculine and feminine plural originales)

1. original

• “original”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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original n

1. an original
2. an eccentric or strange person (from notion of a one of a kind)

   Nisse är ett riktigt original

   Nisse is a real "one of a kind" (odd person)

• “original”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “original”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “original”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)