onion

/ˈʌn.jən/

UK: /ˈʌn.jən/

ɅN · jən (2 syllables)

English Noun Top 7,743
Ad

Definition

A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.

Etymology

From Middle English onyoun, oynoun, from Old French oignon, from Latin ūniōnem, accusative of ūniō (“onion”), 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. * (soy): Stems from a 4chan word filter which changes the word soy to onions. The word filter was implemented in relation to the "alpha onion eater" meme, which is depicted as the direct opposite of the soy boy.

Example Sentences

  • "Some of the weeds that cause an undesirable flavor in milk are: onion, tarweed, scaleweed, garlic, mustard, pepper grass."
  • "To get started, how about creating an edible window box? Sowed in the spring, salad seeds like radish, lettuce and spring onion will germinate so quickly that you'll be harvesting a crop in a month or two."
  • "My eyes are stinging from the chopped onions."
Ad

Related Words