onus

See also: ónus and ônus

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin onus (“burden”).

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (UK)

  (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. (uncountable) Burden of proof, onus probandi.

   The onus is on those who disagree with my proposal to explain why.

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.
   • 2000, Beatles; Brian Roylance, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, 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.

Translations

legal obligation

• Bulgarian: задължение (bg) n (zadǎlženie)
• Dutch: last (nl) m, plicht (nl) f
• French: responsabilité (fr) f
• German: Pflicht (de) f
• Italian: onere (it)

• Japanese: 義務 (ja) (gimu), 責任 (ja) (sekinin)
• 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

• Dutch: last (nl) m, bewijslast (nl) m
• French: charge de la preuve f
• German: Beweislast (de) f
• Icelandic: sönnunarbyrði f

• Italian: onere della prova
• Japanese: 責任 (ja) (sekinin)
• 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)

Anagrams

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

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Dutch

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin onus (“burden”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

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

1. burden

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Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈo.nus/, [ˈɔnʊs̠]
• (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

Declension

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

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	onus	onera
Genitive	oneris	onerum
Dative	onerī	oneribus
Accusative	onus	onera
Ablative	onere	oneribus
Vocative	onus	onera

Derived terms

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

Descendants

• → Dutch: onus (learned)
• → English: onus (learned)
• Italian: onere
• Portuguese: ónus

References

• “onus”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; 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