| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | theory |
| Synonyms: | antecedent, apriority, assignment, assumption, attribution, axiom, basis, belief, conclusion, condition, conjecture, data, deduction, demonstration, derivation, explanation, foundation, ground, guess, inference, interpretation, layout, lemma, philosophy, plan, position, postulate, premise, presupposition, principle, proposal, proposition, rationale, reason, scheme, shot in the dark, speculation, starting point, suggestion, supposition, surmise, system, tentative law, term, theorem, thesis |
| Antonyms: | calcualtion, measurement, proof, reality, truth |
| Main Entry: | origin |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | cause, basis |
| Synonyms: | agent, ancestor, ancestry, antecedent, author, base, causality, causation, connection, creator, derivation, determinant, egg, element, embryo, fountain, generator, germ, horse's mouth, impulse, inception, inducement, influence, inspiration, mainspring, motive, nucleus, occasion, parent, parentage, principle, producer, progenitor, provenance, provenience, root, roots, seed, source, spring, stock, well, wellspring |
| Antonyms: | consequence, destiny, effect, goal, outcome, outgrowth, result |
| Main Entry: | pedigree |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | ancestry, heritage |
| Synonyms: | blood, breed, clan, derivation, descent, extraction, family, family tree, genealogy, heredity, line, lineage, origin, race, stirps, stock |
| Main Entry: | root |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | base, core |
| Synonyms: | basis, bedrock, beginnings, bottom, cause, center, crux, derivation, essence, essentiality, footing, foundation, fountain, fountainhead, fundamental, germ, ground, groundwork, heart, inception, infrastructure, mainspring, marrow, motive, nub, nucleus, occasion, origin, pith, provenance, provenience, quick, quintessence, radicle, radix, reason, rhizome, rock bottom, seat, seed, soul, source, starting point, stem, stuff, substance, substratum, tuber, underpinning, well |
| Notes: | a rout is a disorderly crowd of people or an overwhelming defeat; a root is the usually underground organ of a plant that lacks buds or leaves or nodes and absorbs water and mineral salts - or the form of a word after all affixes are removed; a route is an established line of travel or access - or a road, course, or way for travel from one place to another |
| Antonyms: | derivation, derivative, sprout |
| Main Entry: | source |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | beginning; point of supply |
| Synonyms: | antecedent, author, authority, authorship, begetter, birthplace, cause, commencement, connection, dawn, dawning, derivation, determinant, expert, father, fount, fountain, fountainhead, horse's mouth, inception, informant, maternity, mother, onset, opening, origin, origination, originator, parent, paternity, provenance, provenience, rise, rising, root, specialist, spring, start, starting point, wellspring |
| Antonyms: | effect, end, result |
| Main Entry: | start |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | beginning |
| Synonyms: | alpha*, birth, bow, commencement, countdown, dawn, dawning, day one, derivation, embarkation, exit, first step, flying start, foundation, inauguration, inception, initiation, jump-off, kickoff, leaving, onset, opening, origin, outset, running start, setting out, source, spring, square one, start-off, takeoff |
| Antonyms: | completion, conclusion, death, end, ending, finish, stop |
| Main Entry: | well |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | water hole |
| Synonyms: | abyss, bore, chasm, depression, derivation, fount, fountain, fountainhead, geyser, hole, inception, mine, mouth, origin, pit, pool, repository, reservoir, root, shaft, source, spa, spout, spring, springs, watering place, wellspring |
| Notes: | using good as an adverb in place of well ("she dances real good," "he did good") is nonstandard usage - so, it would be best to say "she dances very well," "he did well" well is an adverb to describe an activity; good is an adjective to describe a condition or state |
| Main Entry: | provenance |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | birthplace |
| Synonyms: | derivation, home, inception, origin, source |
| Main Entry: | fount |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | origin |
| Synonyms: | beginning, derivation, fountain, fountainhead, mine, provenance, provenience, root, source, spring, well, wellspring |