onus

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊnəs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊnəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊnəs

Noun

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:

     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.

Anagrams

• Onsu, Osun, Suon, UNOS, Unos, nous, ouns

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin onus (“burden”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

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

1. burden

Etymology

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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈo.nus/, [ˈɔnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈo.nus/, [ˈɔːnus]

Noun

onus n (genitive oneris); third declension

1. burden, load

   Synonyms: mōlēs, pondus, gravitās

2. cargo, freight
3. (figuratively) tax, tax burden

References

• “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