| original | 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) 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, the first sin of Adam, as related to its consequences to his descendants of the human race; called also total depravity. See Calvinism. Origin: F. Original, L. Originalis. 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. "Men who are bad at copying, yet are good originals." (C. G. Leland) 4. A person of marked eccentricity. 5. <zoology> 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. Origin: Cf. F. Original. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| oriole | <ornithology> Any one of various species of Old World singing birds of the family Oriolidae. They are usually conspicuously coloured with yellow and black. The European or golden oriole (Oriolus galbula, or O. Oriolus) has a very musical flutelike note. In America, any one of several species of the genus Icterus, belonging to the family Icteridae. See Baltimore oriole, and Orchard oriole, under Orchard. Crested oriole. <zoology> See Cassican. Origin: OF. Oriol, oriouz, orieus, F. Loriot (for l'oriol), fr. L. Aureolus golden, dim. Of aureus golden, fr. Aurum gold. Cf. Aureole, Oriel, Loriot. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| orion | <astronomy> A large and bright constellation on the equator, between the stars Aldebaran and Sirius. It contains a remarkable nebula visible to the naked eye. "The flaming glories of Orion's belt." (E. Everett) Origin: L, fr. Gr, orig, a celebrated hunter in the oldest Greek mythology, after whom this constellation was named. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| oriskany | <geology> Designating, or pertaining to, certain beds, chiefly limestone, characteristic of the latest period of the Silurian age. Oriskany period, a subdivision of the American Paleozoic system intermediate or translational in character between the Silurian and Devonian ages. See Chart of Geology. Origin: From Oriskany, in New York. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| orismological | Of or pertaining to orismology. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| orismology | <study> That departament of natural history which treats of technical terms. Origin: Gr. A marking out by boundaries, the definition of a word. See Horizon. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| orizaba jalap root | The dried root of Ipomoea orizabensis (family Convolvulaceae). See: ipomea resin. Synonym: orizaba jalap root. Origin: G. Ips (ip-), a worm, + homoios, like (05 Mar 2000) |