Originality

How to spell originality

11 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce originality

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does originality mean?

1. nounThe quality of being new, inventive, or independent of imitation.

Originality in a sentence

• The judges praised the design for its striking originality.

• Her essay showed real originality rather than a rehash of old ideas.

Where does originality come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin noun origo (stem origin-), which meant 'a beginning, a source, or the point from which something rises', itself built on the verb oriri, 'to rise' or 'to come into being', the same root that gives us 'orient' and 'origin'. From origo, Latin formed the adjective originalis, 'present from the start, primary', and later thinkers added an abstract ending to describe the quality of being original. English took the adjective 'original' through Old French in the medieval period, and the fuller noun 'originality' arrived in the 1700s, partly under the influence of French originalité, as critics began to prize fresh, inventive thought. Notice that the spelling keeps the whole word 'original' intact before adding -ity, so the trap is the soft -gin- in the middle and the chain of unstressed vowels, not any silent letter.

How the word is built

• origin (from Latin origo: a beginning, source)
• -al (adjective)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix)