origination

Origination is the act or process of originating; the point at which something begins or is created. Derived from Latin origo, meaning source or beginning. The term is used across disciplines with slightly different emphasis.

In general use, origination refers to the act of bringing something into being or beginning a process, e.g., the origination of a project, policy, or system. Distinguish from origin (the source) and genesis (often the first emergence).

In finance and lending, loan origination is the process of creating a new loan—from application, through underwriting, to funding. A loan origination fee is charged by lenders for processing. The term is widely used in banking and mortgage industries.

In science and academia, origination can describe the emergence of new phenomena or entities, such as the origination rate of species (speciation) or the origination of a chemical compound. In cosmology, discussions of the origination of the universe refer to its beginning.

In other domains, media and communications discuss content origination as the source of information; in law or administration, origination may denote the initial creation or filing of a document.

See also: origin, genesis, creation. The term is often used interchangeably with but not identical to these terms; origination emphasizes the act of starting or creating rather than the source or end result.