(Namespace: plural glossary)

A system's origin is how they became a system: the general overarching means by which their headmates split from the original singlet, or by which they were kept split instead of ever forming a singlet in the first place, or by which they may otherwise have been created from or by preexisting system members. The concept is related to, but not to be confused with, a headmate's source, which is how that specific headmate formed.