Did You Know?
Understanding the etymology of "onus" is not at all burdensome; it's as simple as knowing that English borrowed the word -- spelling, meaning, and all -- from Latin in the 17th century. We can also add that it's a distant relative of the Sanskrit word for "cart" (a vehicle that carries a burden). English isn't exactly loaded with derivatives of Latin "onus," but the root did give us "onerous" ("troublesome") and "exonerate" ("to clear from accusation or blame" -- thus, "to unburden"). Additionally, our legal language has "onus probandi," which is often shortened to "onus." It means "burden of proof" -- that is, the obligation of proving a disputed assertion in a court of law.
