Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Onion |
OnionNoun1. Edible bulb of an onion plant. 2. Bulbous plant having hollow leaves cultivated worldwide for its rounded edible bulb. 3. Pungent bulb. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "onion" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Etymology: Onion \On"ion\, noun. [French expression ognon, from the Latin expression unio oneness, unity, single large pearl, an onion. See One, Union.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
19th Century Satire | The all-round strength champion of the Vegetable Kingdom, garlic and cabbage being close rivals. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Bible | Onion The Israelites in the wilderness longed for the "onions and garlick of Egypt" (Num. 11:5). This was the _betsel_ of the Hebrews, the Allium cepe of botanists, of which it is said that there are some thirty or forty species now growing in Palestine. The onion is "the 'undivided' leek, _unio_, _unus_, one." Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Food & Agriculture | The swollen part of a date palm shoot. Source: European Union. (references) |
| Related to the lily. There are two main classifications of onions--green onions and dry onions, which are simply mature onions with a juicy flesh covered with dry, papery skin. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Multilingual Slang | French (oignon). (references) |
Slang | Noun. Source: Unknown. Definition: An 'onion' is one ounce of cocaine. Context: This will be used in buisness dealings, an ounce being a common measurement of drugs when sold. Social Source: Urban Drug Dealers. Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) |
| Noun. Source: A vegetable that has pungent, edible bulbs. Definition: An ounce of cocaine. Context: For selling,purchasing, or talking about an ounce of cocaine. Social Source: Illegitimate Businessmen of Harlem NY. Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) | |
| Noun. Source: . Definition: A perfect butt. Context: Said as a compliment. Social Source: HIP-HOP . Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) | |
Slang in 1811 | ONION. A seal. Onion hunters, a class of young thieves who are on the look out for gentlemen who wear their seals suspended on a ribbon, which they cut, and thus secure the seals or other trinkets suspended to the watch. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
An onion is the bulb of the hardy biennial herb Allium cepa.
Onions are edible with a distinctive strong flavour and pungent odour which is mellowed by cooking. They generally have a papery outer skin over a fleshy, layered inner core. Used worldwide for culinary purposes, they come in a wide variety of forms including the small, delicately flavoured spring or salad onion.
(Catalan ceba; French oignon; Spanish cebolla)
Onions are frequently used in school science laboratories because they have particularly large cells which are easily visible through an optical microscope. See how to prepare an onion cell slide for details.
See also The Onion for the parody newspaper.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Onion."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Onion is a parody newspaper and website, originally published in Madison, Wisconsin (and now in New York, New York).The articles comment both on current events and imagined stories (example headline: "All Americans Issued Life Jacket for Some Reason"). The paper often reports on extremely minor events in a overly sensationalistic manner ("Area Man Confounded by Buffet Procedure") parodying traditional newspaper features and styles. Regular features are an illustrated "statshot" box, parodying USA Today, Point / Counterpoint editorials, horoscopes, and a "person on the street" feature that always surveys the same six people. The Onion claims to be "America's Finest News Source".
Just after the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, when the future President remained undetermined, the Onion published a story titled "Bush or Gore: 'A New Era Dawns'" which parodied the similarities between the two politicians. [1] The noteworthiness of this story was largely a matter of luck: the paper went to press election night, before the contested election results which led to Bush v. Gore.
The staff of the Onion have produced numerous books, including Our Dumb Century and Dispatches from the Tenth Circle.
On June 7, 2002, Reuters reported that the Beijing Evening News republished, in the international news page of its June 3 edition, translated portions of a story from The Onion. The story discusses the U.S. Congress's threats to skip town for Memphis, Tennessee or Charlotte, North Carolina unless Washington, DC built them a new Capitol building with a retractable dome. [1] It is a parody of several U.S. sports franchises' threats to leave their city unless new stadiums are built for them. The Evening News is Beijing's most popular newspaper, claiming a circulation of 1.25 million.
Books
- Our Dumb Century (ISBN 0609804618)
- The Onion's Finest News Reporting (ISBN 0609804634)
- Dispatches from the Tenth Circle (ISBN 0609808346)
- The Onion Ad Nauseam (ISBN 1400047242)
See Also
- The Daily Show
- Weekend Update
External links
- The Onion website
- The Onion: Funny site is no joke- CNN profile
- U.S. satire tricks Beijing paper - San Francisco Chronicle (June 8, 2002)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "The Onion."
Synonym: OnionSynonym: onion plant (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Condiment | Salt; mustard, grey poupon mustard; pepper, black pepper, white pepper, peppercorn, curry, sauce piquante; caviare, onion, garlic, pickle; achar, allspice; bell pepper, Jamaica pepper, green pepper; chutney; cubeb, pimento. |
Layer | Stratification, scaliness, nest of boxes, coats of an onion. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | You're so wrapped up in layers onion boy, your afraid of your own feelings (Shrek; writing credit: Ted Elliott) So I tied an onion to my belt (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) Ordering! 3 pork combos, extra bacon on the side, 2 chili cheese samplers, a basket of liver and onion rings, a catch of the day, and a steak cut in the shape of a trout (The Emperor's New Groove; writing credit: Chris Williams; Mark Dindal) I'm a bagel on a plate full of onion rolls (Funny Girl; writing credit: Isobel Lennart;) | |
Clever | An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but an onion a day keeps everyone away. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Onion Pacific (1940) The Tears of an Onion (1938) An Old Spanish Onion (1935) The Onion Magnate's Revenge (1917) In Onion There Is Strength (1916) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | (1) color slide shows two fried onion rings. Credit: Renee Comet (photographer). |  | "Onion" (movie) by Jerry Glynn. |
 | Allium bolanderi var. mirabile, commonly known as Bolander's Onion. Credit: Russ Holmes. |  | Close shot of Flat Stem Onion wildflower and butterfly, Lakeview District. Credit: Terry Spivey. |
 | Closeup of Tolmie's Onion, Allium Tolmiei, wildflowers. Credit: John Craig. |  | Farshot of Tolmie's Onion wildflowers and Big-headed Clover. Credit: John Craig. |
 | Multi colored rock, Onion Creek area near Moab, Utah. Credit: Jerry Sintz. |  | Spires silhouetted in Onion Creek area near Moab, Utah. Credit: Jerry Sintz. |
 | Multi-colored rock in Onion Creek area near Moab, Utah. Credit: Jerry Sintz. |  | Spire in Onion Creek drainage, Fisher Mesa in background near Moab, Utah. Credit: Jerry Sintz. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Onion" by Robert Redelowski Commentary: "Just onion. Max res. 2560x1920 ." | "Onion" by vares Commentary: "Onion in a box." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Nathaniel Hawthorne | A woman's chastity consists, like an onion, of a series of coats. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Try using bacon, ham, or onion to add flavor to vegetables. (references) | |
An acoustic neurinoma is a benign tumor that may develop on the hearing and balance nerves near the inner ear. The tumor results from an overproduction of Schwann cells--small sheet-like cells that normally wrap around nerve fibers like onion skin and help support the nerves. (references) | ||
Economic History | Guinea | For example, during the Guinean potato and onion harvests the government reduces foreign potato and onion imports. (references) |
Pakistan | The major crops are wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane, gram, corn, sorghum, barley, rape seed and mustard and tobacco while the minor crops include pulses, potatoes, onion, chillies, and garlic. (references) | |
Guatemala | The largest seed importer is the vegetable sector, which includes sweet corn, beets, cauliflower, onion, pepper, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, radish, cucumber, lettuce, squash, tomato, and others. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SACRED, adj. Dedicated to some religious purpose; having a divine character; inspiring solemn thoughts or emotions; as, the Dalai Lama of Thibet; the Moogum of M'bwango; the temple of Apes in Ceylon; the Cow in India; the Crocodile, the Cat and the Onion of ancient Egypt; the Mufti of Moosh; the hair of the dog that bit Noah, etc. All things are either sacred or profane. The former to ecclesiasts bring gain; The latter to the devil appertain. Dumbo Omohundro |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Onion" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.70% of the time. "Onion" is used about 658 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.7% | 656 | 9,979 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.3% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 658 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "onion": be off one's onion ♦ Bermuda onion ♦ brown onion sauce ♦ climbing onion ♦ coats of an onion ♦ egyptian onion ♦ flowering onion ♦ green onion ♦ Hooker's onion ♦ know one's onion ♦ multiplier onion ♦ nodding onion ♦ nodding wild onion ♦ off one's onion ♦ onion bagel ♦ onion bread ♦ onion butter ♦ Onion Creek ♦ onion dip ♦ onion dome ♦ onion fish ♦ onion fly ♦ onion louse ♦ onion mildew ♦ onion paper ♦ onion plant ♦ onion roll ♦ onion salt ♦ onion skin ♦ onion smut ♦ onion soup ♦ onion stem ♦ onion stew ♦ onion thrips ♦ onion yellow dwarf ♦ pearl onion ♦ purple onion ♦ red onion ♦ sea onion ♦ small onion ♦ spanish onion ♦ spring onion ♦ sprouting onion ♦ top onion ♦ tree onion ♦ Vidalia onion ♦ welsh onion ♦ white onion sauce ♦ wild onion. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "onion": onion-dome, onion-domed, onion-eyed, onion-holes, onion-rings, onion-shaped, onion-skin, onion-tainted. | |
Ending with "onion": garlic-and-onion, raw-onion, spring-onion. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
onion | 4,439 | bloomin onion | 47 |
booty onion | 683 | butt onion | 44 |
french onion soup | 216 | blooming onion recipe | 41 |
vidalia onion | 146 | carmelized onion | 41 |
french onion soup recipe | 131 | liver onion | 38 |
mad onion | 127 | purple onion | 37 |
onion ring recipe | 126 | agriculture green onion | 36 |
onion ring | 114 | onion soup recipe | 34 |
onion seed | 107 | booty.com onion | 33 |
green onion | 98 | pickled onion | 29 |
blooming onion | 82 | batter onion ring | 29 |
growing onion | 69 | news onion radio | 27 |
wild onion | 67 | sweet onion | 27 |
onion soup | 67 | onion personals | 27 |
onion recipe vidalia | 60 | grilled onion | 26 |
red onion | 59 | liver onion recipe | 26 |
magazine onion | 53 | agriculture onion | 26 |
news onion | 53 | onion picture | 25 |
newspaper onion | 52 | cucumber onion salad | 25 |
onion recipe | 49 | onion sweet walla walla | 25 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "onion"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | ui. (various references) | |
Albanian | qepë, kokë (block, bulb, catchword, conk, dome, head, loaf, nob, noddle, noggin, noodle, nut, pate, poll, pommel). (various references) | |
Arabic | بصلة, بصل. (various references) | |
Asturian | cebolla. (various references) | |
Bavarian | zwiefi. (various references) | |
Bemba | kanyense. (various references) | |
Blackfoot | saokiipisatsiinikimm (wild onion). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | тиква (knob, loaf, nob, noddle, noggin, nut, pate, pumpkin, squash), глава лук, глава (attic, beer, bulb, chief, chump, compartment, conk, crumpet, head, knob, loaf, nob, noddle, noggin, nut, pate, poll, sconce, topknot), запалителна ракета, лук. (various references) | |
Catalan | ceba. (various references) | |
Cebuano | sibuyas. (various references) | |
Chamorro | siboyas. (various references) | |
Chinese | 葱, 洋蔥 . (various references) | |
Cornish | onyonen. (various references) | |
Czech | cibule (bulb). (various references) | |
Danish | løg. (various references) | |
Dutch | ui (gag, joke, witticism), ajuin. (various references) | |
Esperanto | cepo. (various references) | |
Faeroese | leykur (bulb). (various references) | |
Farsi | پیاز(گ.ش.). (various references) | |
Finnish | sipuli (bulb). (various references) | |
French | oignon. (various references) | |
Frisian | sipel. (various references) | |
Galician | cebola. (various references) | |
German | Zwiebel (bulb, onoin, tight bun). (various references) | |
Greek | κρεμμύδι (scallion). (various references) | |
Guarani | cevói. (various references) | |
Hebrew | בצל (bulb). (various references) | |
Hungarian | vöröshagyma, hagyma (bulb). (various references) | |
Icelandic | laukur. (various references) | |
Indonesian | bawang. (various references) | |
Italian | cipolla (chive). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 球茎 (bulb). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | たまねぎ, きゅうけい (arched, bow-shaped, break, bulb, castration, confinement in a palace, crescent-shaped, globular or spherical shape, intermission, old style, old type, prosecution, recess, rest, segment), オニオン . (various references) | |
Korean | 양파. (various references) | |
Lombard | scigolla. (various references) | |
Macedonian | kromid. (various references) | |
Malay | bawang. (various references) | |
Manx | unnish. (various references) | |
Maori | aniana. (various references) | |
Norwegian | løk. (various references) | |
Papago | siwol. (various references) | |
Papiamen | ciboyo. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | onionay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | cebola (bulb). (various references) | |
Provencal | ceba. (various references) | |
Romanian | ceapã. (various references) | |
Romansch | tschagula (to onion). (various references) | |
Russian | луковица (bulb), лук луковый, лук (bow). (various references) | |
Samoan | aniani. (various references) | |
Scottish | uinnean (an onion, ankle). (various references) | |
Sepedi | eie. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | luk (arc, bend, bow, drawing bow, sinuosity, vault). (various references) | |
Spanish | cebolla (bulb). (various references) | |
Sranan | ayun. (various references) | |
Swahili | kitunguu. (various references) | |
Swedish | lök (bulb, bulp, onions). (various references) | |
Thai | หอมหัวใหญ่. (various references) | |
Turkish | soğan (bulb). (various references) | |
Turkmen | sogan. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | цибуля, цибулина (bulb), голова (attic, bean, chair, chairman, chief, conk, head, nob, noddle, noggin, noodle, nut, pate, president, topknot), макітра (chump, garret, noddle, noggin, noodle, nut), засмажувати цибулею, запалювальна ракета, присмачувати цибулею. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | nắm vấn đề của mình điên, gàn (barmy, batty, crack-brained, kookie, moonstruck), cừ về công việc của mình. (various references) | |
Zulu | uanyanisi. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | 1. um. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | ALLIUM, Allium cepa, Allium cepa Linnaeus, bulbus, cæpa, cæpe, cepa, cepae, cephae, cephas. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "onion": onions, onionskin, onionskins, oniony. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "onion": gonion, phelonion, ronion. (additional references) | |
Words containing "onion": nonionic, nonionizing, phelonions, ronions. (additional references) | |
| |
"Onion" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Bonino, bonyon, Ennion, jotnian, Moncion, nion, nooi, ocio, odion, ofio, Ogino, ogio, ognon, oino, Oinoe, oinos, ojio, olion, omnopon, onbo, oncion, Oneko, onen, oneof, oni, onian, onigo, onin, oninn, onio, O'nion, oniony, onium, Onkom, onnon, ono, Onon, onone, ononono, onton, Onumoz, Onyonka, opion, opnion, osio, otion, owino, ownio, oxion, ronyon. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "onion" (pronounced u"nyun) |
| 5 | u" n y u n | grunion. |
| 4 | -n y u n | banyan, Canyon, communion, companion, disunion, dominion, minion, nonunion, opinion, pinion, reunion, union. |
| 3 | -y u n | battalion, billion, bullion, civilian, jillion, medallion, million, multibillion, multimillion, octillion, pavilion, pillion, rebellion, scallion, scullion, stallion, trillion, vaudevillian, vermilion, Vermillion, zillion. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "i-n-n-o-o" | |
-1 letter: noon. | |
-2 letters: inn, ion, noo. | |
-3 letters: in, no, on. | |
| Words containing the letters "i-n-n-o-o" | |
+1 letter: gonion, ionone, notion, onions, oniony, ronion. | |
+2 letters: conjoin, glonoin, ionogen, ionones, midnoon, mooning, noniron, nonoily, nooning, noosing, notions, ongoing, opinion, opsonin, ronions. | |
+3 letters: anconoid, conation, conjoins, conjoint, continuo, coonskin, crooning, dominion, donation, glonoins, gnomonic, honoring, ionogens, midnoons, monition, monotint, nainsook, nonionic, nonohmic, nonpoint, nonsolid, nontoxic, nonunion, noodging, noodling, noonings, noontide, noontime, notation, notional, notornis, novation, oncoming, opinions, opsonins, prounion, snooding, snooking, snooling, snooping, snooting, snoozing, sponsion, spooning, swooning, troponin, zonation. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
