'origination' originates from Latin, specifically the noun 'orīgo' (genitive 'origĭnis'), where 'orīgo' meant 'beginning, source'; it developed via Late Latin 'originare' meaning 'to arise' into Medieval Latin and then into English.

'origination' changed from Medieval/Old French and Medieval Latin forms such as Old French 'origination' and Medieval Latin 'originatio' (or 'originatio(n-)') and entered Middle English as 'originacioun'/'origination', eventually becoming the modern English 'origination'.

Initially it referred broadly to 'a beginning or source'; over time it came to denote both 'the act or process of beginning' and specific technical processes (for example, in finance, the creation of a loan).