Etymograph

English

originally

Originally comes from Middle English originali, from original + -ly; original comes via Old French from Late Latin orīginālis, from orīgō ‘origin’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oriōr1‘to rise’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorior1‘to originate’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorīgō2as orīginis‘origin’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEorīginālis3‘original’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400original3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500original4‘original’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500originali5‘originally’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1945originally5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin origo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin originalis
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle English original
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle English originali
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English originally
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1945, Elizabeth Gidley Withycombe, Introduction: “There are 36 known praenomina, though there may originally…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*oriōrWiktionary, Latin origo‘to rise’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoriorWiktionary, Latin origo‘to originate’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorīgōWiktionary, Latin originalisas orīginis‘origin’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEorīginālisWiktionary, Middle English original‘original’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400originalWiktionary, Middle English original
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500originalWiktionary, Middle English originali‘original’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500originaliWiktionary, English originally‘originally’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1945originallyWiktionary, English originally. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1945, Elizabeth Gidley Withycombe, Introduction: “There are 36 known praenomina, though there may originally…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with originally, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- ‘to rise, to spring’

  • run ← runnen
  • ride ← riden ← rīdan ← *rīdan ← *rīdaną
  • earn ← erne ← rennen ← rinnan ← *rinnaną
  • orient ← oriēns
  • irritable ← irritabilis ← irrītō ← *h₃riH-tó-s ← *h₃reyH-
  • irritate ← irrītātus ← irrītō ← *h₃riH-tó-s ← *h₃reyH-
  • ornithology ← ornithologia ← ὀρνιθολόγος ← ὄρνις ← *órn-īk-s ~ *órn-īkʷʰ-
  • erne ← ern ← earn ← *arnu ← *arnuz
  • orogeny ← orogénie ← ὄρος ← ὄρνυμι ← *h₃eros

through Latin orior ‘to originate, to be born’

31 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adv As it was in the beginning; at first.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “originally”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin origo, Latin originalis, Middle English original, Middle English originali. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *oriōr / originally