Synonyms for origin

noun

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.
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.
Cause
seed, germ, stock, parentage, ancestry, parent, ancestor, genesis, raison d'Ãªtre (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

See origin in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Synonyms

origin inception source root ¹

These nouns signify the point at which something originates. Origin is the point at which something comes into existence: The origins of some words are unknown.
When origin refers to people, it means parentage or ancestry: “He came . . . of mixed French and Scottish origin” (Charlotte Brontë).
Inception is the beginning, as of an action or process: The researcher was involved in the project from its inception.
Source signifies the point at which something springs into being or from which it derives or is obtained: “The mysterious . . . is the source of all true art and science” (Albert Einstein).
Root often denotes what is considered the fundamental cause of or basic reason for something: “Lack of money is the root of all evil” (George Bernard Shaw).

See origin in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II

noun

A point of origination:
beginning, derivation, fount, fountain, fountainhead, mother, parent, provenance, provenience, root¹, rootstock, source, spring, well¹. See start
The initial stage of a developmental process:
beginning, birth, commencement, dawn, genesis, inception, nascence, nascency, onset, opening, outset, spring, start. See start
One's ancestors or their character or one's ancestral derivation:
ancestry, birth, blood, bloodline, descent, extraction, family, genealogy, line, lineage, parentage, pedigree, seed, stock. See kin, precede

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