Origin, n.
Etymology: [F. origine, L. origo, -iginis, fr. oriri to rise, become visible; akin to Gr. r, and perh. to E. run.]
1. The first existence or beginning of anything; the birth. This mixed system of opinion and sentiment had its origin in the ancient chivalry. Burke.
2. That from which anything primarily proceeds; the fountain; the spring; the cause; the occasion.
3. (Anat.)
The point of attachment or end of a muscle which is fixed during contraction; -- in contradistinction to insertion. Origin of coördinate axes (Math.), the point where the axes intersect. See Note under Ordinate.
1 more senses
Syn. -- Commencement; rise; source; spring; fountain; derivation; cause; root; foundation. -- Origin, Source. Origin denotes the rise or commencement of a thing; source presents itself under the image of a fountain flowing forth in a continuous stream of influences. The origin of moral evil has been much disputed, but no one can doubt that it is the source of most of the calamities of our race. I think he would have set out just as he did, with the origin of ideas -- the proper starting point of a grammarian, who is to treat of their signs. Tooke. Famous Greece, That source of art and cultivated thought Which they to Rome, and Romans hither, brought. Waller.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for origin; he lists it under beginning, cause.
Where he writes about it:
An origin is the point from which something starts or sets out, often involving, and always suggesting causal connection; as, the origin of evil; the origin of a nation, a government, or a family. — from beginning
A source is that which furnishes a first and continuous supply, that which flows forth freely or may be readily recurred to; as, the source of a river; a source of knowledge; a source of inspiration; fertile land is a source (not an origin) of wealth. — from beginning