Wiktionary

onus

See also: Onus, ónus, and ônus

English

edit

Etymology

edit
    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *h₃enh₂-
    Proto-Indo-European *-os
    Proto-Indo-European *h₃énh₂os
    Proto-Italic *onos
    Latin onuslbor.
    English onus

    Learned borrowing from Latin onus (literally “burden”).

    Pronunciation

    edit

    Noun

    edit

    onus (countable and uncountable, plural onuses or onera)

    1. A legal obligation.
      The onus is on the landlord to make sure the walls are protected from mildew.
    2. (law) Burden of proof, onus probandi.
      • 1883, Henry Drummond, Natural Law in the Spiritual World‎[1]:
        The argument is founded on a principle which is now acknowledged to be universal; and the onus of disproof must lie with those who may be bold enough to take up the position that a region exists where at last the Principle of Continuity fails.
    3. Stigma.
      • 1993, Dorothy Mermin, Godiva's Ride: Women of Letters in England, 1830-1880, page 19:
        Geraldine evades the onus of ambition by subordinating it to the service of her family, and escapes the onus of sexuality by bodily mutilation
    4. Blame.
      • 1977, Daniel Yergin, Shattered Peace: The Origins of the Cold War and the National Security State, page 6:
        ... what might be called "onus-shifting" — each side trying to make a record and place blame on the other for the division of Europe and the Cold War itself.
    5. Responsibility; burden.
      The onus is on those who disagree with my proposal to explain why.
      • 2000, Beatles with Brian Roylance, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, The Beatles Anthology, page 174:
        The onus isn't on us to produce something great every time. The onus is on the public to decide whether they like it or not.
      • 2023 September 6, Anthony Lambert, “Train paths: more space for freight?”, in RAIL, number 991, page 34:
        This throws the onus on freight operators' train planners to devise ingenious solutions to finding new paths.
      • 2024 December 2, David Close, “Houston Texans head coach defends Azeez Al-Shaair as the NFL leans toward suspending the linebacker, source says”, in CNN‎[2]:
        “A lot of the quarterbacks in this day and age, they try to take advantage of the rule where they slide late, and they try to get an extra yard. And now you’re a defender, a lot of onus is on the defender, right?”

    Translations

    edit

    Anagrams

    edit

    Dutch

    edit

    Etymology

    edit

    Learned borrowing from Latin onus (“burden”).

    Pronunciation

    edit

    Noun

    edit

    onus m (plural onussen or onera, diminutive onusje n)

    1. burden

    Latin

    edit

    Etymology

    edit
      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *h₃enh₂-
      Proto-Indo-European *-os
      Proto-Indo-European *h₃énh₂os
      Proto-Italic *onos
      Latin onus

      From Proto-Italic *onos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃énh₂os, from the root *h₃enh₂-. Cognate with Sanskrit अनस् (ánas, “heavy cart; mother; birth; offspring”). See Ancient Greek ὄνομαι (ónomai, “impugn, quarrel with”).

      Pronunciation

      edit

      Noun

      edit

      onus n (genitive oneris); third declension

      1. burden, load
        Synonyms: mōlēs, pondus, gravitās
      2. cargo, freight
      3. (figuratively) tax, tax burden

      Declension

      edit

      Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

      singular plural
      nominative onus onera
      genitive oneris onerum
      dative onerī oneribus
      accusative onus onera
      ablative onere oneribus
      vocative onus onera

      Derived terms

      edit

      Descendants

      edit
      • → Dutch: onus (learned)
      • → English: onus (learned)
      • → German: Onus (learned)
      • Italian: onere
      • Sicilian: òniri
      • Portuguese: ónus

      References

      edit
      • “onus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
      • “onus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
      • "onus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
      • onus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
      • Clackson, James, Indo-European Word Formation: Proceedings from the International Conference, 2002
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=onus&oldid=84531178"