origins

1 definition • 5 examples

used to describe the particular way in which something started to exist or someone started their life:

The story has obscure origins (= no one knows how it started).

The president's family was of humble origins (= they were poor people without a good position in society).

He's never made any attempt to conceal his working-class origins and indeed is proud of them.

He rose from relatively lowly origins to become a figure of huge historical importance.

Despite its associations with Christianity, the custom almost certainly has pagan origins.