onset

[on-set, awn-]

noun

1. a beginning or start.

   the onset of winter.

2. an assault or attack.

   an onset of the enemy.

3. Phonetics.,  the segment of a syllable preceding the nucleus, as the gr in great.

onset

/ ˈɒnˌsɛt /

noun

1. an attack; assault

2. a start; beginning

Word History and Origins

Origin of onset¹

1525–35; on + set, after the verb phrase set on

Example Sentences

For months in 2024 — shortly after the onset of the deadliest and most destructive war between Israelis and Palestinians in history — college campuses in the U.S. convulsed in often confrontational protests.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Most patients experience a sudden onset of fever, headache, muscle aches, rash, and joint swelling within a few days of being bitten by an infected mosquito.

Read more on Science Daily

From the onset, Warner insisted “Aztec Batman” should be produced in Spanish first, and then dubbed into English.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Devices are becoming better at not only tracking symptoms but predicting their onset.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Inflation-adjusted median household income last year was at roughly the same level as in 2019, before the pandemic struck, following sharp declines after Covid’s onset and a tepid recovery since then.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• commencement 
• dawning 
• onslaught 
• outbreak 
• outset