onus

See also: ónus and ônus

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

From Latin onus (“burden”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəʊnəs/
• IPA^(key): /ˈoʊnəs/
• Rhymes: -əʊnəs

Noun

onus (countable and uncountable, plural onuses)

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 with 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

• Dutch: last (nl) m, plicht (nl) f
• French: responsabilité (fr) f
• German: Pflicht (de) f
• Italian: onere (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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 f
• Icelandic: sönnunarbyrði f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

blame

• Japanese: 責任 (ja) (sekinin)
• Serbo-Croatian: breme (sh) n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: culpa (es)

Anagrams

• Osun, UNOS, nous, ouns

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Dutch

Etymology

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

(deprecated template usage)

From Proto-Indo-European *h₃énh₂os from *h₃enh₂-. 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
2. cargo, freight

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

• onerō
• onustus
• onus probandī

Descendants

• Dutch: onus
• English: onus
• Italian: onere
• 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.
• CLARKSON, James, Indo-European Word Formation: Proceedings from the International Conference, 2002