onset
\ˈɒn.ˌsɛt\
The verdict
“onset” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Commencement, début, inauguration.
Corpus desk
Index FR-onset · onset · French
onset · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | onset |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ˈɒn.ˌsɛt\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Longue queue: rang de « onset » en français
Rare enough to double-check
onset is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈɒn.ˌsɛt\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Commencement, début, inauguration.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for onset, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is onset, spelled O-N-S-E-T.
Definition
- 1Commencement, début, inauguration.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how onset appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Finally, from the onset of the insurrection, the Polish forces were aided by the civilian population and had surprise on their side as they attacked many separate groups of soldiers at the same time and the resistance to Russian forces quickly spread over the city.
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.