onset
pronunciation
How to pronounce onset in British English:
UK [ˈɒnset]
How to pronounce onset in American English:
US [ˈɑːnset]
-
- Noun:
- the beginning or early stages
- (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)
Word Origin
- onset (n.)
- 1530s, "attack, assault," from on + set (n.); compare verbal phrase to set (something) on (someone). Weaker sense of "beginning, start" first recorded 1560s. Figurative use in reference to a calamity, disease, etc. is from 1580s.
Example
- 1. Neither was the onset of recession in late 2007 .
- 2. Bilingualism even seems to delay the onset of dementia in old age .
- 3. Every computer system 's primary interface has been a keyboard since their onset .
- 4. With the onset of the euro crisis , mr wilders has switched tack .
- 5. With onset of civilization , things changed .