Original vs. Stale — What's the Difference?

Present or existing from the beginning; first or earliest

Having lost freshness, effervescence, or palatability

Created personally by a particular artist, writer, musician, etc.; not a copy

Lacking originality or spontaneity

Not dependent on other people's ideas; inventive or novel

Ineffective or uninspired, usually from being out of practice or from having done the same thing for too long.

The earliest form of something, from which copies may be made

(Law) Legally unenforceable because of a claimant's delay in seeking enforcement.

An eccentric or unusual person

To make or become stale.

Preceding all others in time; first

To urinate. Used especially of horses and camels.

Not derived from something else; fresh and unusual

The urine of certain animals, especially horses and camels.

Showing a marked departure from previous practice; new

Clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong.

Productive of new things or new ideas; inventive

No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.

Being the source from which a copy, reproduction, or translation is made.

No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; cliche, hackneyed, dated.

A first form or model from which others are made or developed

(obsolete) No longer nubile or suitable for marriage, in reference to people; past one's prime.

An authentic work of art

(in general) Not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time.

A work that has been composed firsthand or used to make a copy, reproduction, or translation

Fallow, in reference to land.

A person with a creative or unusual personality.

(legal) Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions.

A person who is appealingly odd or curious; a character.

Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition.

(Archaic) The source from which something arises; an originator.

(finance) Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks.

(not comparable) Relating to the origin or beginning; preceding all others.

(computing) Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy.

(not comparable) First in a series of copies or versions.

At a standstill; stalemated.

(not comparable) Newly created.

(colloquial) Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.

(comparable) Fresh, different.

A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.)

(not comparable) Pioneering.

(dialectal) One of the posts or uprights of a ladder.

(not comparable) Having a specified place or time as its origin.

One of the rungs on a ladder.

An object or other creation (e.g. narrative work) from which all later copies and variations are derived.

The stem of a plant.

A person with a unique and interesting personality or creative talent.

The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc.

(archaic) An eccentric person.

A fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line.

A newly designed garment released by a fashion designer as part of a collection.

A stalemate; a stalemated game.

A ridgeling.

An ambush.

Pertaining to the origin or beginning; preceding all others; first in order; primitive; primary; pristine; as, the original state of man; the original laws of a country; the original inventor of a process.

(obsolete) A band of armed men or hunters.

Not copied, imitated, or translated; new; fresh; genuine; as, an original thought; an original process; the original text of Scripture.

The main force of an army.

Having the power to suggest new thoughts or combinations of thought; inventive; as, an original genius.

Urine, especially used of horses and cattle.

Before unused or unknown; new; as, a book full of original matter.

A live bird to lure birds of prey or others of its kind into a trap.

Origin; commencement; source.

(obsolete) Any lure, particularly in reference to people used as live bait.

That which precedes all others of its class; archetype; first copy; hence, an original work of art, manuscript, text, and the like, as distinguished from a copy, translation, etc.

An accomplice of a thief or criminal acting as bait.

An original thinker or writer; an originator.

(obsolete) a partner whose beloved abandons or torments him in favor of another.

A person of marked eccentricity.

(obsolete) A patsy, a pawn, someone used under some false pretext to forward another's (usu. sinister) designs; a stalking horse.

The natural or wild species from which a domesticated or cultivated variety has been derived; as, the wolf is thought by some to be the original of the dog, the blackthorn the original of the plum.

A prostitute of the lowest sort; any wanton woman.

An original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made

Any decoy, either stuffed or manufactured.

An original model on which something is patterned

To make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen (a drink, especially beer).

Preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed;

(transitive) To make stale; to cause to go out of fashion or currency; to diminish the novelty or interest of, particularly by excessive exposure or consumption.

(of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary;

(intransitive) To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption.

Being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of;

To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age.

Not derived or copied or translated from something else;

To make a ladder by joining rungs ("stales") between the posts.

To stalemate.

To be stalemated.

To urinate, especially used of horses and cattle.

To serve as a decoy, to lure.

The stock or handle of anything; as, the stale of a rake.

That which is stale or worn out by long keeping, or by use.

A prostitute.

Urine, esp. that of beasts.

Something set, or offered to view, as an allurement to draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool pigeon.

A stalking-horse.

A stalemate.

A laughingstock; a dupe.

Vapid or tasteless from age; having lost its life, spirit, and flavor, from being long kept; as, stale beer.

Not new; not freshly made; as, stale bread.

Having lost the life or graces of youth; worn out; decayed.

Worn out by use or familiarity; having lost its novelty and power of pleasing; trite; common.

To make vapid or tasteless; to destroy the life, beauty, or use of; to wear out.

To make water; to discharge urine; - said especially of horses and cattle.

Urinate, of cattle and horses

Showing deterioration from age;

Lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new;

No longer new; uninteresting;