onus

See also: Onus, ónus, and ônus

English

Alternative forms

• oweness (eggcorn)

Etymology

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

• (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.

   • 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:

     “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?”

Collocations

• the onus [is/was] on [someone]

Translations

legal obligation

Bulgarian: задължение (bg) n (zadǎlženie) Czech: povinnost (cs) f, odpovědnost (cs) f, břímě (cs) n Dutch: last (nl) m, plicht (nl) f French: responsabilité (fr) f German: Pflicht (de) f Irish: dualgas (ga) m Italian: onere (it) Japanese: 義務 (ja) (gimu), 責任 (ja) (sekinin) Ottoman Turkish: اصر (ısr) Polish: obowiązek prawny m Russian: правовое обязательство n (pravovoje objazatelʹstvo), обязательство (ru) n (objazatelʹstvo) Serbo-Croatian: obaveza (sh) Spanish: obligación (es) f Turkish: sorumluluk (tr), yük (tr)

burden of proof

Czech: důkazní břemeno, důkazní povinnost Dutch: last (nl) m, bewijslast (nl) m French: charge de la preuve (fr) f German: Beweislast (de) f, Onus (de) n (dated) Icelandic: sönnunarbyrði f Italian: onere della prova Japanese: 責任 (ja) (sekinin) Polish: ciężar dowodu m Russian: бремя доказательства n (bremja dokazatelʹstva) Serbo-Croatian: teret dokaza m Spanish: carga de la prueba f

stigma

Spanish: estigma (es)

blame

Japanese: 責任 (ja) (sekinin) Serbo-Croatian: breme (sh) n Spanish: culpa (es)

responsibility, burden

Czech: povinnost (cs) f, odpovědnost (cs) f, břímě (cs) n Latin: onus n Marathi: ओझे n (ojhe), भार m (bhār) Spanish: responsabilidad (es) f

Anagrams

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

Dutch

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin onus (“burden”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

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

1. burden

Latin

Etymology

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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɔ.nʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɔː.nus]

Noun

onus n (genitive oneris); third declension

1. burden, load

   Synonyms: mōlēs, pondus, gravitās

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

Declension

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

• gravis onus
• onerārius
• onerō
• onerōsus
• onus probandī
• onustus

Descendants

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

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