1. (a.) 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.

2. (a.) Not copied, imitated, or translated; new; fresh; genuine; as, an original thought; an original process; the original text of Scripture.

3. (a.) Having the power to suggest new thoughts or combinations of thought; inventive; as, an original genius.

4. (a.) Before unused or unknown; new; as, a book full of original matter.

5. (n.) Origin; commencement; source.

6. (n.) 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.

7. (n.) An original thinker or writer; an originator.

8. (n.) A person of marked eccentricity.

9. (n.) 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.