origin

n.

1. The act of beginning

   rise, start, starting, genesis, alpha, commencement, outset, incipience, inception, initiation, nativity, dawn, introduction, embarkation, forging, entrance, ingress, entry, outbreak, onset, first move, first step, foundation, origination, authoring, ascent, first appearance, creation, induction, launching, inauguration, forming, fashioning, molding, devising, invention; see also birth 1.

   Antonyms end*, close*, termination. *

2. The place or time of beginning

   source, root, beginning, inception, spring, issue, fountain, inlet, derivation, etymology, provenance, provenience, stem, shoot, twig, sapling, portal, door, gate, gateway, fountainhead, wellspring, springhead, font, fount, well, fons et origo (Latin), birthplace, square one*, omphalos*, cradle*, nest*, womb*, hotbed*, reservoir*, forge*, dawn*, infancy*, babyhood*, childhood*, youth. *

   Antonyms result*, outcome*, issue. *

3. Cause

   seed, germ, stock, parentage, ancestry, parent, ancestor, genesis, raison d'être (French), egg, sperm, embryo, principle, element, nucleus, first cause, First Great Cause, author, creator, heart, prime mover, primum mobile (Latin), begetter, progenitor, producer, determinant, agent, leaven, mainspring, causality, causation, impulse, source, influence, prime motive, generator, ultimate cause, remote cause, occasion, root, first act, spring, antecedent, motive, inducement, activation, inspiration.

   Antonyms result*, consequence*, conclusion.

origin is applied to that from which a person or thing has its very beginning the origin of a word; source is applied to the point or place from which something arises, comes, or develops the sun is our source of energy; beginning is the basic general term for a starting point or place the beginning of a quarrel; inception is specifically applied to the beginning of an undertaking, organization, etc. Smith headed the business from its inception; root suggests an origin so deep and basic as to be the ultimate cause from which something stems to get to the root of the matter