1. Preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed
   "restored the house to its original condition"; "the original performance of the opera"; "the original cast"; "retracted his original statement"; "the original inhabitants of the Americas"; "the book still has its original binding"
    
2. (of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary
   "his work is based on only original, not secondary, sources"
    
3. Being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of
   "an original mind"; "a truly original approach"; "with original music"
    
4. Not derived, copied or translated from something else
   "the translation misses much of the subtlety of the original French"; "the play is original, not an adaptation"; "he kept the original copy and gave her only a xerox"

1. An original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made
   "The studio kept the original copy of the album in a secure vault";
   - master, master copy
    
2. Something that serves as a model or pattern for later copies or developments
   "this painting is a copy of the original";
   - archetype, pilot

Derived forms: originals

See also: 1st, avant-garde, creative, daring, first, freehand, freehanded, fresh, germinal, groundbreaking, innovational, innovative, innovatory, new, novel, originality, originative, path-breaking, primary, seminal, unconventional, underivative, underived

Type of: creation, example, model

Antonym: unoriginal

Encyclopedia: Original, The