unoriginaladj.n.
/(ˌ)ʌnəˈrɪdʒᵻnl/, U.S. /ˌənəˈrɪdʒ(ə)nəl/ A. adj.
1. Having no origin; uncreated. Now rare. Perhaps Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adjective] > without cause > without source or origin
authorless1629
unoriginal1648
unoriginated1693
unoriginate1705
sourceless1848
parentless1862
1648 J. Sparrow tr. J. Böhme Descr. Three Princ. (title page) The un-originall eternall birth [Ger. Der ohn Uhrsprung Gebuhrt] of the Holy Trinity of God.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 477 Plung'd in the womb Of unoriginal Night and Chaos wilde. View more context for this quotation
1709 J. Hughes Ode on Incarnation vii. 7 Th' Unoriginal Maker Mind, Where unsuccessive permanent before, The standing Species lodg'd their Store.
1764 Hypothesis Tri-une Subsistence in Deity 3 The same numerical essence cannot be original and unoriginal, self-existent and derived.
1851 Christian Parlor Bk. 268/1 Overhung with such fears and the weight of unoriginal darkness, now man looks for his last earthly change, and calls it death.
1892 W. E. Henley Song of Sword 65 Till I and you..Are in the dreaming, even as Life and Death, Twin-ministers of the unoriginal Will.
2. Not original, lacking originality; derivative, second-hand.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [adjective] > not original or derivative
secondary1398
borrowed1571
third hand1598
denominative1624
second hand1654
second-handed1682
of second hand1708
unoriginal1749
uninventive1776
unoriginative1845
uncreative1855
hand-me-down1881
reach-me-down1907
cookie cutter1922
1749 R. Hurd in Horace Ars Poetica ii. 11 He advises to..avoid that servility and unoriginal air, so often charged upon such pieces.
1774 A. Gerard Ess. Genius 42 Nothing appears in it uncommon or new; every thing is trite and unoriginal.
1827 J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. I. i. iv. 57 The evidence may be termed unoriginal, in so far as the narrating witness..speaks of some other person, and not of himself.
1845 E. A. Poe Diddling in Broadway Jrnl. 2 146/1 He would return a purse..upon discovering that he had obtained it by an unoriginal diddle.
1897 W. P. Ker Epic & Romance 329 The ‘Song of Roland’ is comparatively late and unoriginal.
1941 P. Larkin Let. 23 June in Sel. Lett. (1992) 15 The dialogue is conventional, stilted, unoriginal, unfunny, and dull.
2004 Time Out N.Y. 16 Sept. 129/3 Another good reason to sit through this pleasant if unoriginal film.
B. n.
A person who lacks originality.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > tedious or dull person > lacking originality
unoriginal1847
1847 T. Medwin Life Shelley II. 203 A cold, selfish, mathematical unoriginal, like Hobbes.
1970 Bks. & Bookmen 16 300 Such unoriginals must pronounce upon the arts, must affect to curb, categorise, control.
2002 S. Sullivan Marx for Post-communist Era v. 148 The ghetto poor or ‘social unoriginals’ who moronically seek status through brand-name items.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1648