onion

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈʌnjən/ (UK); /ˈʌnj(ə)n/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unyon, borrowed from Anglo-Norman union (Old French oignon), and directly Latin ūniō (“a kind of onion; a pearl”),^[2][3][4] a rustic Roman word, probably from ūnus (“one”),^[2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”).^[2] Etymonline explains the link as the unity of the onion's layers, unlike garlic with its cloves;^[2] Word Origins says the name was used for a variety that grew as a single bulb without offshoots.^[6] Barnhart calls the Latin word of uncertain origin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The bulb of the onion plant: 1130 (ungeon) in Barnhart, the early 12th century in Etymonline;^[3][2] the OED's first quotation, for the plant, is from 1356–7.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old English had ynne, in ynnelēac, from the same Latin word.^[2] The name was extended to other species of Allium from 1552 and to bulbous plants of other genera from 1548.^[7] In 19th-century slang onion meant the head, as in off one's onion, mad, from 1890.^[7] To know one's onions, to know one's subject well, arose in the United States in the early 20th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 1130 – ungeon.^[3]
• 1356–7 – the onion plant.^[7]
• 1755 – to onion, season with onions.^[7]
• 1890 – off one's onion.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A plant, Allium cepa, grown for its rounded edible bulb.
2. The bulb itself, made of layers of fleshy leaf bases with a strong smell and taste.
3. Any of several related plants, such as the Welsh onion.

Word family

• oniony
• onionlike
• onionskin
• onion dome
• onion ring

Related words

• one
• union
• unity
• scallion
• shallot

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press