English → Latin
“original” in Latin
prīncipālisfirst, original; chief, principalprīmusfirst, early; chief, principal; most excellent, eminent; distinguished, noble; the first part of; the entrance, extremitantīquusold, ancient; aged; time-honoured, bygoneprīmitīvusprimitive (first of its kind), originalpropriusappropriate to oneself: (one's) proper, (one's) own (inalienably); belonging to oneself as property, or goods: (one's) osingulārissingular, unique, unusual; alone, single, solitary; nonpareil, peerless, unequalled. unmatched, exceptionalPriscĭānusA celebrated grammarian in the time of the emperor Justinian.archetypusarchetypical, originalchīrographumone's handwriting; autograph; manuscriptexempluma sample, example; a warning example, deterrent; torture, exemplary penalty, chastisement
The English word original itself goes back to Latin orior, through orīginālis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
original adj.
Primitive, principalis: primus: antiquissimus (Cic.): primitivus (Priscianus). The natural and original meaning of a word, naturalis et principalis significatio vocabuli (Quint., 9, 1, 4); ea verbi significatio, in qua natum est (Gell., 13, 29, 1): an original piece, opus non aliunde expressum; archetypum (Plin., Ep.): an original letter, chirographum (Cic., Fam., 12, 1, 2); litterae autographae (Suet., Oct., 87); epistola autographa (ib. 71); *litterae auctoris manu scriptae: original documents, litterae, tabulae, autographae (Suet.); tabulae authenticae (authentic; Ulp., Dig.): to have made an original discovery, per se invenisse aliquid.
Peculiar, proprius; singularis; sui similis. An original genius, ingenium plane singulare; ingenium illustre: he is a man of original genius, plane singulari ingenio excellit homo ille: original sin, *vitiositas innata; *pravitas insita.
original s.
PROP., 1. Of a writing, archetypum (Plin., Ep., 5, 10, 1; in Cic., Att., 16, 31, it is in Greek); of a letter, exemplar (Cic.; opposed to exemplum, a copy); of a book, etc. = autograph, liber idiographus (Pand.); autographum (Symmachus): *verba scriptoris ipsa (the original text): the Latin translation vies with the Greek original, Latina interpretatio certat cum exemplari Graeco (Wolf). 2: Of paintings, archetypum (Plin., Ep.); *pictura, tabula picta, ab ipso auctore picta, facta.
Pattern, exemplum, exemplar (Cic.). A living original, exemplum vivum, animale (opposed to simulacrum mutum; after Cic., Inv., 2, 1, mutum in simulacrum ex animali exemplo veritatem transferre): not to equal, to come short of an original, ab archetypo labi et decidere (Plin. Ep., 5, 10, 1): anybody is always original (in his speeches), potest semper esse in disputando (or dicendo) suus (Cic.).
Figuratively, A person of peculiar or eccentric manners, qui suus est (Cic., Leg., 2, 7, 17); *qui suum sequitur ingenium et morem, nec ad aliorum exemplum institutum, se componit: since in everything he chose to be an original, cum in omnibus novus esse mallet et sui exempli scriptor (Eichst.): he is quite an original, homo ille novus est ac sui exempli (Eichst.); nihil aequale est illi homini (Hor.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for original?
- The usual Latin words for “original” are prīncipālis, prīmus, antīquus; also prīmitīvus, proprius, singulāris. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.