onus probandi

noun

"onus-probandi" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“onus probandi” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The burden of proof, the onus; the duty of a party in a legal proceeding to prove an assertion of fact; it includes both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-onus-probandi · onus probandi · English

onus probandi · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "O" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for onus probandi
PropertyValue
Headwordonus probandi
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “onus probandi” in English

onus probandisits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

onus probandi is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The burden of proof, the onus; the duty of a party in a legal proceeding to prove an assertion of fact; it includes both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for onus probandi, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin onus probandī. The correct English form is onus probandi, spelled O-N-U-S- -P-R-O-B-A-N-D-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    The burden of proof, the onus; the duty of a party in a legal proceeding to prove an assertion of fact; it includes both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin onus probandī.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "onus probandi"?
"onus probandi" is spelled O-N-U-S- -P-R-O-B-A-N-D-I.
What does "onus probandi" mean?
As a noun, "onus probandi" means: The burden of proof, the onus; the duty of a party in a legal proceeding to prove an assertion of fact; it includes both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion.
What is the origin of the word "onus probandi"?
Borrowed from Latin onus probandī. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list