Origin

The origin of something (from the Latin origo, "beginning") is where it came from, in the sense of a physical location or a metaphysical source.

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In mathematics, the origin of a coordinate system is the point where the axes of the system intersect.

The most common systems are two-dimensional (contained in a plane) and three-dimensional (contained in a space) Euclidean systems, having two and three perpendicular axes, respectively. The origin divides each of these axes into two halves, a positive side and a negative side. Points can then be located with reference to the origin by giving their numerical coordinates -- that is, their positions along each axis either in the positive or negative direction. The coordinates of the origin are always all zero, for example (0,0) in two dimensions and (0,0,0) in three.

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The following branches of science and philosophy deal with origins.

• Cosmology -- origin and evolution of the universe
• Epistemology -- origin of knowledge
• Etymology -- origin of words
• Paleoanthropology -- the study of human origin
• Toponymy -- origin of place names

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In games:

• Origin can mean Origin Systems, a computer game developer
• Origins can mean Origins International Game Expo, a gaming convention

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In music:

• Origin is an album by Evanescence

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In literature:

• Origin is the name of a biographical novel by writer Irving Stone based on the life of Charles Darwin.
• Origin is a comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002, telling the origin of the superhero Wolverine.