Kilo Lingo

#539 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

origin, source; beginning, birth

Examples

incerta .

The origin of the people is uncertain.

.

He wrote about the origin of the world.

.

The river has its source in the mountain.

.

We are looking for the origin of our family.

.

Everything came from a single source.

Origo, originis is third declension and feminine, which is worth flagging because the same -o, -inis shape gives masculines such as ordo and homo. It is built on orior, "to rise", so the sense is the point at which a thing rises: a river's source, a family's stock, the beginning of anything traceable.

Cato's history of Italy was called the Origines because it worked backwards to each city's founding, and the phrase ab origine, "from the beginning", is where "aboriginal" comes from. In this corpus the theological use is unavoidable: peccatum originale, original sin, the fault inherited at the origin rather than committed. English origin, original, originate and, at one remove, orient and abortion all sit on orior.

Where this fits

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

Latin · Free printables

origo: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "origo" (origin, source; beginning, birth): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 11.