origin story

[ awr-i-jin stawr-ee, or-i-jin ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a backstory, or established background narrative, that informs the identity and motivations of heroes and villains in a comic book or similar fictional work:
The superhero’s origin story begins with a tragic accident that left him scarred, but also resulted in his supernatural powers.

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First recorded in 1910–15

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Examples have not been reviewed.

�� was the origin story for this paper?

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For all the ubiquity of HeLa cells in scientific research, it’s remarkable that it took until 2010 for anyone to tell their origin story.

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The origin story Halili gave the Christian-themed magazine Relevant for a January profile makes the decision to start the podcast sound impulsive.

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Paul Dano portrayed the Riddler in the 2022 movie ‘The Batman,’ then examined the character’s origin story in a comic book series.

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Like a detective, she’s always on the lookout for contradictory gospels about Jesus’ origin story.

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