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onus

UK/ˈəʊnəs/US/ˈoʊnəs/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,980 of 15,258leans written

The onus is the duty or blame that rests on somebody. The onus is on you, shift the onus, the onus of proof.

It appears almost only in the onus is on, and the onus of proof is who has to prove a case, which decides most of them. The Latin means a burden, and onerous comes from the same word.

Definitions of onus

  1. 1nounonusThe duty or blame that rests on somebody.C1

    “The onus is on the landlord to repair the heating, not the tenant.”

onus is a duty.

Where it comes from

Latin onus means a burden; onerous is built on the same word.

  1. Latin

    onus

  2. English, today

    onus

Learned borrowing from Latin onus. Latin onus literally “burden”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

onus in the wild

  • The onus of gameplay rests on the Japanese player who must attempt to bring forces to bear upon Midway Island.

    Midway (1991 game)

  • A reverse onus clause is a provision within a statute that shifts the burden of proof onto the individual specified to disprove an element of the information.

    Reverse onus

  • There is no onus on the accused to satisfy the court that he acted under compulsion.

    S v Mtewtwa

  • However, for injuries caused in highway accidents, the onus is on the plaintiff to prove fault on the part of the defendant (see Tort law in Australia).

    Venning v Chin

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.