onion (English)

Where does "onion" come from?

The word onion comes from the Latin 'ūniōnem', a term that originally meant 'oneness' or 'single,' likely referring to the singular bulb produced by the plant. This term evolved into the Old French 'oignon' before entering Middle English as 'onyoun.' Interestingly, while the vegetable has a deep historical root, the word's modern slang usage for 'soy' emerged much later through an internet meme and 4chan word filter.

Full etymology tree

• onion (English), 'A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.'
  • inherited onyoun (Middle English), 'The onion plant (Allium cepa).'
    • borrowed oignon (Old French), 'onion (Allium cepa)'
      • inherited unio (Latin), 'a unity, union'
        • compound unus (Latin), 'one, single'
          • inherited *oinos (Proto-Italic), 'one'
            • inherited *h₁óynos (Proto-Indo-European), 'one'
        • compound -io (Latin), 'Used to form abstract nouns from verbs.'
          • inherited *-h₃onh₂ (Proto-Indo-European)

Direct ancestors

• onyoun (Middle English)
• oignon (Old French)
• unionem (Latin)

Updated June 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris