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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
Megan Feringa, New York Times, 3 July 2025
What’s interesting is there has been so much focus from Google, the FBI and others on not responding to proactive technical or account support calls, that this puts the onus back on users, following official advice to find numbers for themselves before contacting any support desk.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
Proponents, however, say the bill addresses some of the major contributing factors to the student loan crisis and puts the onus on borrowers to repay their debts, rather than taxpayers.
—Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 18 June 2025
Regardless of the department, the onus remains the same.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for onus
Cite this Entry
“Onus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/onus. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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