Onians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Referring collectively to the inhabitants or natives of a place named Onion or a similarly named location ; denoting a group or people associated with a place or entity called Onia ; indicating members or followers of a community or sect linked to the name Onion or Onia
2. Describing individuals belonging to a population identified by Onion or Onia ; signifying persons who originate from or reside in a geographic area named Onion ; representing a cultural or ethnic group associated with a territory called Onion or Onia
3. Pertaining to the people of a region known as Onion or Onia ; relating to a demographic group characterized by the name Onion ; encompassing the citizens or inhabitants who identify with a place or entity named Onion or Onia

Etymology: "Onians" is the plural of an adjective formed by adding the suffix "-ian" to "Onion," meaning relating to onions. The suffix comes from Latin "-ianus," which made adjectives of relation, and English took it in widely through French. Plural forms of such adjectives are unusual in ordinary English, so the term appears mainly in specialized or proper-noun contexts. The base word traces through Old French "oignon" to Latin "unionem," the accusative form of "unio." That Latin word meant "a single large pearl" as well as, apparently, a kind of onion, and it is related to "unus," "one." The connection to the vegetable is usually explained by the onion's single bulb, though the exact reasoning behind the name is not certain.