Onion
/ˈʌn.jən/noun
A bulbous edible plant with layered fleshy leaves and a strong pungent taste and smell.
Did you know?The English word ultimately comes from Latin unio, meaning both “onion” and “single pearl,” because one bulb was imagined as a lone, rounded unit among its layers.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*oi-no-
“one”
Latin
Latin
ūniō
“an onion; also a single large pearl”
Late Latin
Latin
ūniōnem
“onion”
Old French
Old French
oignon
“onion”
Middle English
English
unyon
“onion”
Modern English
English
onion
“the edible bulb of the onion plant”