original
o·rig·i·nal/əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/adjective, noun
original is spelled O-R-I-G-I-N-A-L, 4 syllables: o·rig·i·nal. The wrong spelling people search most is orginal: about 520 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 20 of all searches for the word. Original is an adjective meaning “Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others”.
How many letters and syllables are in original?
| Letters | 8: O-R-I-G-I-N-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: o·rig·i·nal |
| In writing | 145 times per million words; the 711th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 4; the most searched, orginal, about 520 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell original?
Original is spelled O-R-I-G-I-N-A-L. 4 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 11 of the searches for original in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is original?
Original appears 145 times per million words in written English, the 711th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce original?
- US /əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪ.nəl/
- US /əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ə.nəl/
- US /əˈɹɪd͡ʒ.nəl/
Original has 4 syllables, split o·rig·i·nal in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-original.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with original?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as original from its last stressed vowel (/ɪdʒɪnəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of original
- more original comparative
- most original superlative
- originals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does original mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.
the original state of mankind; the original laws of a country; the original inventor of a process
- 2
First in a series of copies or versions.
The original manuscript contained spelling errors which were fixed in later versions.
- 3
Newly created.
Tonight we will hear an original work by one of our best composers.
- 4
Fresh, different.
The paper contains a number of original ideas about color perception.
- 5
Pioneering.
Parker was one of the original bebop players.
- 6
Having a specified place or time as its origin.
This kind of barbecue is original to North Carolina.
- 7
Unseasoned, unflavored, plain, or having a standard or typical flavor; classic, traditional
noun
- 1
An object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived.
This manuscript is the original.
- 2
A person with a unique and interesting personality or creative talent.
- 3
archaicAn eccentric person.
- 4
A newly designed garment released by a fashion designer as part of a collection.
- 5
A ridgeling.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate original?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of original: orig, orig..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Original in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | originel , original |
| German | ursprünglich, ur- , original , originell , Original, Urschrift |
| Portuguese | original, originário |
| Spanish | original , único |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does original come from?
From Middle English original, from Old French original, from Late Latin orīginālis (“primitive, original”), from Latin orīgō (“beginning, source, origin”), equivalent to origin + -al; see origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).