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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Origins and sources

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

The SMART Vocabulary cloud shows the related words and phrases you can find in the Cambridge Dictionary that make up this topic. Click on a word to go to the definition.

  • at source phrase
  • base
  • bases
  • be a recipe for disaster, trouble, success, etc. idiom
  • beginning
  • birth
  • birthplace
  • born
  • breeding ground
  • come
  • come from somewhere/something phrasal verb
  • cradle
  • creation myth
  • date
  • dating
  • deracinate
  • derivation
  • derive
  • derive from something phrasal verb
  • emanate
  • emanate from/through something/someone phrasal verb
  • fount
  • fountainhead
  • gateway drug
  • genesis
  • hail
  • hail from somewhere phrasal verb
  • issue
  • issue from something phrasal verb
  • misdate
  • mother
  • multisource
  • natal
  • origin
  • originate
  • paternity
  • provenance
  • recipe
  • root
  • seed
  • seed corn
  • single-origin
  • son
  • source
  • stem
  • stem from something phrasal verb
  • the cradle of something idiom
  • the mother of something idiom
  • ur-
  • wellspring

Word of the Day

play second fiddle

to be less important or in a weaker position than someone else

About this

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You say ‘to-may-to’ and I say ‘to-mah-to’: UK/US pronunciation

October 29, 2025
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