O*rig"i*nal (?), a. [F. original, L. originalis.]
1.
Pertaining to the origin or beginning; preceding all others; first in order; primitive; primary; pristine; as, the original state of man; the original laws of a country; the original inventor of a process.
His form had yet not lost
All her original brightness.
Milton.
<-- #sic. "her" refers to form, apparently considered feminine in gender. -->
2.
Not copied, imitated, or translated; new; fresh; genuine; as, an original thought; an original process; the original text of Scripture.
3.
Having the power to suggest new thoughts or combinations of thought; inventive; as, an original genius.
4.
Before unused or unknown; new; as, a book full of original matter.
Original sin Theol., the first sin of Adam, as related to its consequences to his descendants of the human race; -- called also total depravity. See Calvinism.
© Webster 1913.
O*rig"i*nal, n. [Cf. F. original.]
1.
Origin; commencement; source.
It hath it original from much grief.
Shak.
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
Addison.
2.
That which precedes all others of its class; archetype; first copy; hence, an original work of art, manuscript, text, and the like, as distinguished from a copy, translation, etc.
The Scriptures may be now read in their own original.
Milton.
3.
An original thinker or writer; an originator.
[R.]
Men who are bad at copying, yet are good originals.
C. G. Leland.
4.
A person of marked eccentricity.
[Colloq.]
5. Zool. & Bot.
The natural or wild species from which a domesticated or cultivated variety has been derived; as, the wolf is thought by some to be the original of the dog, the blackthorn the original of the plum.
© Webster 1913.