Onus

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈəʊnəs/

Definitions

1. The burden of responsibility or obligation that falls upon a person or group to accomplish something
2. The obligation or burden that is imposed on an individual or group to fulfill a duty or responsibility is often referred to as this concept
3. This term denotes the responsibility or weight that rests with someone to ensure a particular task or duty is carried out

Etymology: The Latin "onus" meant simply "burden", a load carried by a person or animal, and it has changed very little in sense since. Its ancestry reaches back to the Proto-Indo-European root "*h₃én(H)os", which also gave rise to the Latin word for the load itself, and the English word is a learned borrowing, taken directly from Latin rather than arriving through everyday speech. That directness explains why the word feels so formal. Where older English words for hardship came through Old English and Norman French, this one was adopted by scholars and writers who wanted a precise term for a weight placed on someone by duty or law. The Latin sense of a physical load carried on the back is still close to the surface when people speak of a burden of proof or a burden of responsibility.

Synonyms: burden, responsibility, duty

Antonyms: relief, exemption