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)

A legal obligation.
The onus is on the landlord to make sure the walls are protected from mildew.
Burden of proof, onus probandi.
The onus is on those who disagree with my proposal to explain why.
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
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.
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)
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)
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
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)

responsibility, burden

Czech: povinnost (cs) f, odpovědnost (cs) f, břímě (cs) n

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 oni, diminutive onusje n)

burden

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

burden, load
Synonyms: mōlēs, pondus, gravitās
cargo, freight
(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. 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