ORIGINAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does original mean? 

• ORIGINAL (noun)
  The noun ORIGINAL has 2 senses:

1. an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made

2. something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies

  Familiarity information: ORIGINAL used as a noun is rare.

• ORIGINAL (adjective)
  The adjective ORIGINAL has 4 senses:

1. preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed

2. (of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary

3. being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of

4. not derived or copied or translated from something else

  Familiarity information: ORIGINAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ORIGINAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

master; master copy; original

Hypernyms ("original" is a kind of...):

creation (an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone)

Derivation:

original (not derived or copied or translated from something else)

original (being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

archetype; original; pilot

Context example:

this painting is a copy of the original

Hypernyms ("original" is a kind of...):

example; model (a representative form or pattern)

Derivation:

original (not derived or copied or translated from something else)

• ORIGINAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed

Context example:

retracted his original statement

Similar:

first (preceding all others in time or space or degree)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary

Context example:

his work is based on only original, not secondary, sources

Similar:

primary (of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of

Context example:

an original mind

Similar:

avant-garde; daring (radically new or original)

freehand; freehanded (done by hand without mechanical aids or devices)

fresh; new; novel (original and of a kind not seen before)

germinal; originative; seminal (containing seeds of later development)

groundbreaking; innovational; innovative (being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before)

underivative (not derivative or imitative)

Also:

unconventional (not conforming to accepted rules or standards)

creative; originative (having the ability or power to create)

first (preceding all others in time or space or degree)

primary (of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary)

Attribute:

originality (the quality of being new and original (not derived from something else))

Antonym:

unoriginal (not original; not being or productive of something fresh and unusual)

Derivation:

original (an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made)

originality (the quality of being new and original (not derived from something else))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Not derived or copied or translated from something else

Context example:

the translation misses much of the subtlety of the original French

Similar:

underived (not derived; primary or simple)

Derivation:

original (an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made)

original (something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies)

 Context examples 

A condition in which cancer cells spread from the original (primary) tumor and invade lymph vessels (thin tubes that carry lymph and white blood cells through the body’s lymph system).

(Carcinomatous lymphangitis, NCI Dictionary)

Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the central nervous system (CNS).

(Central nervous system metastasis, NCI Dictionary)

The form must accompany original submissions, amendments, supplements and resubmissions.

(Certification of Compliance: FDA Form 3674, Food and Drug Administration)

A carcinoma that has spread to the brain from its original site in the breast, through the hematogenous route.

(Breast Carcinoma Metastatic to the Brain, NCI Thesaurus)

The single block of my original shears-tackle I had attached to the end of the boom.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the bone.

(Bone metastasis, NCI Dictionary)

Cancer that has spread from the original (primary) tumor to the brain.

(Brain metastasis, NCI Dictionary)

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of China.

(Chinese, NCI Thesaurus)

This piece of pollution, picked up from the water-side, to be made much of for an hour, and then tossed back to her original place!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A ductal breast carcinoma which has spread from the original site of growth to another anatomic site.

(Metastatic Ductal Breast Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)