different between origin vs mainspring

English

Etymology

From Middle English origine, origyne, from Old French origine, orine, ourine, from Latin origo (“beginning, source, birth, origin”), from orior (“to rise”); see orient. Doublet of origo.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???.?.d??n/, /???.?.d??n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???.?.d??n/, /???.d??n/
• (NYC) IPA^(key): /???.?.d??n/

Noun

origin (plural origins)

1. The beginning of something.
2. The source of a river, information, goods, etc.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture I:

     It is clear that the origin of the truth would be an admirable criterion of this sort, if only the various origins could be discriminated from one another from this point of view, and the history of dogmatic opinion shows that origin has always been a favorite test. Origin in immediate intuition; origin in pontifical authority; origin in supernatural revelation, as by vision, hearing, or unaccountable impression; origin in direct possession by a higher spirit, expressing itself in prophecy and warning; origin in automatic utterance generally,—these origins have been stock warrants for the truth of one opinion after another which we find represented in religious history.

   Synonym: source

3. (mathematics) The point at which the axes of a coordinate system intersect.

   Synonym: zero vector

4. (anatomy) The proximal end of attachment of a muscle to a bone that will not be moved by the action of that muscle.
5. (cartography) An arbitrary point on Earth's surface, chosen as the zero for a system of coordinates.
6. (in the plural) Ancestry.

Synonyms

• (beginning): See Thesaurus:beginning

Antonyms

• (beginning): end
• (source): destination
• (anatomy): insertion

Derived terms

Related terms

• orient

Translations

See also

• provenance

Further reading

• origin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• origin in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• nigori

English

Etymology

From main +? spring.

Noun

mainspring (plural mainsprings)

1. The principal spring of a clockwork mechanism, which drives it by uncoiling.
   • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

     He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away.

2. (figuratively) The most important reason for something (Cf. spring "origin of something" (literary) (often in the plural) the springs of her ambition).

   My daughter is the mainspring of my life.

Translations