onset
noun
Simple meaning
The initial phase of a disease or condition, in which symptoms first become apparent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahnsetSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɑnsɛt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
medicine
The initial phase of a disease or condition, in which symptoms first become apparent.
A setting about; a beginning.
phonology
The initial portion of a syllable, preceding the syllable nucleus.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The initial phase of a disease or condition, in which symptoms first become apparent.
Used this way, onset is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use onset
- “The onset of pneumonia.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Mild form of diabetes mellitus that develops gradually in adults.
Severe diabetes mellitus with an early onset.
Severe diabetes mellitus with an early onset.
Mild form of diabetes mellitus that develops gradually in adults.
Mild form of diabetes mellitus that develops gradually in adults.
Mild form of diabetes mellitus that develops gradually in adults.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: initial phase of a disease or condition
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.