originality
/əˌɹɪd͡ʒɪˈnælɪti/
originality means the quality of being original or novel. It carries an Arena rating of 1356, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, originality ranks #7,100 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say, #7,171 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #7,181 of 14,451 for Most Whimsical Words, #7,181 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words.
originality is pronounced /əˌɹɪd͡ʒɪˈnælɪti/.
Why “originality” is a great word
The quality of being novel, inventive, and not derived from something else. From French *originalité* (1690s), from *original* (from Latin *originālis*, from *origo, origin-* 'beginning, source') + the noun-forming suffix *-ity*, first attested in English in 1648. Unlike 'creativity,' which hums with the general power to make and often to combine, or 'conventionality,' which finds comfort in the trodden path, originality is the stark condition of a thing having no antecedent. It is the first brushstroke on a blank canvas, the sentence that has never been spoken before, the warmth of a thought so unbidden it feels less invented than discovered—a solitary and profoundly fragile act of genesis in a world already crowded with echoes.
Etymology
From French originalité. By surface analysis, original + -ity.
noun
- The quality of being original or novel.“The space at my disposal does not permit me to go into Mr. Bulleid's paper in detail, but it is impossible to refrain from an expression of admiration at the originality that has been packed into this outstanding design.”
- The capacity to think independently or be inventive.“Originality may be the capacity to look at the same facts and see new explanations.”
- Something original.“This houses a waiting room and gentlemen's toilets which, despite some new sanitary fittings in early BR days, fell out of use over 40 years ago, becoming dilapidated - and so remained as the only room on the station to retain its originality.”
- The original state or condition of a thing.“Church Street has been reclaimed from vendors who had encroached every bit of pedestrian walk. BBMP evicted more than 70 of them and restored to its originality.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.