ORIGINS Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

origins

noun

plural of origin

as in sources

a point or place at which something is invented or provided the origins of human language remain a matter of considerable debate

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in roots

the source from which something grows or develops the origin of the tradition of giving presents at Christmastime

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in lineages

the line of ancestors from whom a person is descended they could trace their origins back 15 generations

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of origins Norway’s monarchy has old roots, tracing its origins to King Harald Fairhair in the ninth century. — Jan M. Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026 Others turn them off to disguise the origins of the shipment. — Jane Arraf, NPR, 28 Aug. 2026 According to OpenEvidence, grounding its responses in medical literature and providing citations is intended to make the origins of the information clearer. — Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 Roman’s camera has such a wide field because its spy telescope origins give it unusually fast optics. — Don Figer, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026 The numbers and ages of the LRDs that Roman finds should give us a better idea of their origins. — Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026 Her rings were from Sears Though Parton was on the verge of becoming a megastar, her wedding jewelry had humble origins. — Nicole Briese, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026 The new home of Engine 8 — staffed by 12 firefighters who work in four-person crews — replaces its previous facility, which traces its origins back to 1913 and sits on the eroding west bank of Coyote Creek four blocks away. — Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026 In that context, perpetual futures, borne of crypto origins – an asset class whose appeal stemmed in large part due to constant access – look like a natural next step. — Oliver Renick, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for origins

Noun

Renewable energy credits serve as proof that a company uses electricity from clean energy sources like solar farms, according to the Retail Energy Supply Association.

— Sydney Sasser, Arkansas Online, 1 Sep. 2026
Other dark leafy greens, such as Swiss chard and collard greens, are good sources, too.

— Jo Ann Liguori, Flow Space, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of sources

Noun

One of the lineages appears to have interbred directly with Homo sapiens in Africa more than 50,000 years ago, while the other was an even older group that passed some of its DNA to humans indirectly through Denisovans.

— Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
In addition, the way in initial cases occurred in clusters within the market and the distribution of the earliest viral lineages, is consistent with the likelihood that several separate animal-to-human spillover events took place in late 2019.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of lineages

Noun

Humble beginnings Born on January 19, 1946 in a one-room cabin in Tennessee, Parton grew up the fourth of 12 children.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
Kate O’Flynn has been a working actor for 20 years and, on this blinding August morning, is adjusting to the beginnings of her first-ever trip to Los Angeles.

— David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of beginnings

Noun

But Shanes questioned whether grouping Jews under a single ethnic category would produce sufficiently specific data for those purposes, or instead obscure differences among Jewish populations with distinct ancestries.

— Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2026
This technique overcomes limitations of older methods like genotyping arrays, which were often biased towards European ancestries and less accurate.

— William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of ancestries

Noun

The cast has become a kind of living monument to New York theater, with Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Donna Murphy, Kelli O’Hara, Audra McDonald, and many others bringing Broadway pedigrees to the series.

— Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026
That’s why the mission was to create waves on the defensive line, to add game-changers built for big moments, such as Dexter Lawrence, and to focus on players with winning, championship pedigrees.

— Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of pedigrees

Noun

The seal texts often introduced the owners with their names, genealogies, gender, professions and hometowns.

— Serdar Yalçin, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2025
Transcripts, grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, glyph studies, botanical studies, commentaries, articles, editions of codices, correspondence, maps, charts, drawings, photographs, Maya Society materials, genealogies of Maya families, and Mayan glyphs on moveable type.

— The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025

Definition of genealogies

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originators

origins

orison

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“Origins.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/origins. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of origins

noun

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