onion

See also: .onion and Onion

English

Onions.
A sliced onion.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English onyoun, oynoun, from Old French oignon, from Latin ūniōnem, accusative of ūniō (onion, large pearl), which had also been borrowed into Old English as yne, ynnelēac (onion) (> Middle English hynne-leac, henne-leac). Also displaced Middle English knelek (literally knee-leek) and the inherited term ramsons.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʌn.jən/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈʌŋ.jɪn/
  • (dialectal, obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈɪŋ.ən/, /ˈɪn.jən/[1][2]
  • Rhymes: -ʌnjən

Noun

onion (plural onions)

  1. A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
  2. The bulb of such a plant.
    • 1962 (quoting 1381 text), Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, page 1242:
      dorrẹ̅, dōrī adj. & n. [] cook. glazed with a yellow substance; pome(s ~, sopes ~. [] 1381 Pegge Cook. Recipes p. 114: For to make Soupys dorry. Nym onyons [] Nym wyn [] toste wyte bred and do yt in dischis, and god Almande mylk.
  3. A plant of the genus Allium as a whole. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  4. (slang, of a drug) An ounce.
  5. (obsolete baseball slang) A ball.
  6. (obsolete, slang) A watch-seal.
    • 1846, George William MacArthur Reynolds, The Mysteries of London, page 60:
      [] M was a Magsman, frequenting Pall-Mall; / N was a Nose that turned chirp on his pal; / O was an Onion, possessed by a swell; / P was a Pannie, done niblike and well. []
  7. Alternative letter-case form of Onion (an inhabitant of Bermuda; a Bermudian)

Synonyms

  • (vegetable): violet (UK dialect)

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Bislama: anian
  • Tok Pisin: anian
  • Maori: aniana

Translations

See also

References

  1. Stanley, Oma (1937) “I. Vowel Sounds in Stressed Syllables”, in The Speech of East Texas (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 2), New York: Columbia University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 12, page 27.
  2. Bingham, Caleb (1808) “Improprieties in Pronunciation, common among the people of New-England”, in The Child's Companion; Being a Conciſe Spelling-book [] , 12th edition, Boston: Manning & Loring, →OCLC, page 75.

Welsh

Noun

onion m (singulative onionyn)

  1. Alternative form of wynwyn (onions)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
onion unchanged unchanged honion
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “wynwyn, wnion, winion, winiwn, &c.”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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