Origó

Origó is a Hungarian noun meaning origin, source, or starting point. In everyday language it is used to refer to the root cause or starting point of something, for example the origó of a tradition or process. In mathematical and scientific contexts origó denotes the reference point of a coordinate system or geometric space.

In geometry and analytic geometry the origó of a Cartesian coordinate system is the point where the axes intersect, typically denoted as (0,0) in two dimensions, or (0,0,0) in three dimensions. It serves as the tail of position vectors and as the zero value for coordinates. The distance from the origó to a point is given by the magnitude of its coordinate vector, and many formulas—such as those for vectors, inner products, and projections—are defined with respect to the origó.

In physics and engineering the origó often acts as the reference frame's origin; translating coordinates moves the origó to a new point, changing numerical values without altering physical relationships. In cartography and geodesy, a projection's origó can define the central point of the map or a principal reference.

Etymology: origó derives from Latin origo, meaning birth or source, via Hungarian. The term is common in Hungarian science education and technical language to designate the central reference point in various systems, and it remains a generalized term for "origin" in both abstract and applied contexts.