onion
Plural: onions
Noun
- An edible, pungent bulb of a cultivated herb.
- the bulb of an onion plant
- bulbous plant having hollow leaves cultivated worldwide for its rounded edible bulb
- an aromatic flavorful vegetable
- A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
- The bulb of such a plant.
- Any of various plants, mostly of the genus Allium, that are more or less similar to Allium cepa.
- An ounce.
- A ball.
- A watch-seal.
- Alternative letter-case form of Onion (“an inhabitant of Bermuda; a Bermudian”).
- Soy, particularly when used in compound words related to the soy boy stereotype.
Examples
- Many onions are delicious; domesticated onions such as Allium cepa and Allium fistulosum are especially good, but even wild onions such as Allium canadense and Allium validum are nice in small doses.
- My eyes are stinging from the chopped onions.
- The word ONION peels back layers of strategy on the Scrabble board.
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
Allium cepa, onion plant, violet
Scrabble Score: 5
onion: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordonion: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
onion: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary