onset
Etymology

From on- + set.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈɒnˌsɛt/
  • (America, Midland US, US South) IPA: /ˈɔnˌsɛt/
  • (Northern US, or, cot-caught) IPA: /ˈɑnˌsɛt/
Noun

onset (plural onsets)

  1. (archaic) An attack; an assault especially of an army.
    Synonyms: storming
    • c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene i]:
      Heralds, from off our towers, we might behold
      From first to last, the onset and retire
      Of both your armies
    • 1800, William Wordsworth, Six thousand Veterans:
      Who on that day the word of onset gave.
    • 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:
      And Peter's tired army cheered, and the newcomers roared, and the enemy squealed and gibbered till the wood re-echoed with the din of that onset.
  2. (medicine) The initial phase of a disease or condition, in which symptoms first become apparent.
    the onset of schizophrenia
  3. (phonology) The initial portion of a syllable, preceding the syllable nucleus.
    Hypernyms: anlaut
    Holonym: syllable
    Coordinate terms: nucleus, coda, rhyme
  4. (acoustics) The beginning of a musical note or other sound, in which the amplitude rises from zero to an initial peak.
  5. A setting about; a beginning.
    Synonyms: start, beginning, Thesaurus:beginning
    the onset of puberty
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Delays”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC ↗:
      There is surely no greater wisdom than well to time the beginnings and onsets of things.
  6. (obsolete) Anything added, such as an ornament or as a useful appendage.
    • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
      And will with deeds requite thy gentleness:
      And, for an onset, Titus, to advance
      Thy name and honourable family,
      Lavinia will I make my empress.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

onset (onsets, present participle onsetting; simple past and past participle onset)

  1. (obsolete) To assault; to set upon.
  2. (obsolete) To set about; to begin.



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