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Understanding the etymology of onus shouldn’t be a burden; it’s as simple as knowing that English borrowed the word—spelling, meaning, and all—from Latin in the 17th century. Onus is also a distant relative of the Sanskrit word anas, meaning cart (as in, a wheeled wagon or vehicle that carries a burden). English isn’t exactly loaded with words that come from Latin onus, but onerous (“difficult and unpleasant to do or deal with”) is one, which is fitting since in addition to being synonymous with “burden,” onus has also long been used to refer to obligations and responsibilities that one may find annoying, taxing, disagreeable, or distasteful.
Examples of onus in a Sentence
Consumer Reports, May 2000
These laws got the regulatory ball rolling, but the onus was on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that additives were safe.
—Amy Rosenbaum Clark, Vegetarian Times, March 1995
It is not the scions of Yale and Harvard who apply to become FBI agents and construction workers and civil servants and cops who bear the onus of this reverse discrimination.
—Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post, 9-15 Mar. 1992
hoping to avoid the onus of failure by lowering expectations ahead of time
he perpetually tries to shift the onus for any mistakes onto other team members
Devin Dwyer,
ABC News,
25 June 2026
That said, the onus will be on the borrower to take action now, before their debt compounds further and their relief options grow more limited.
—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
23 June 2026
In many ways, an onus will be on the 76ers to be nimble through the draft.
—
Tony Jones,
New York Times,
23 June 2026
Lastly, recognize that the onus for change is not solely on you and your partner.
—
Christina Balderrama-Durbin,
The Conversation,
22 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for onus
Cite this Entry
“Onus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/onus. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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