onset

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the beginning or start of something, often unpleasant

   At the onset of winter, the birds began their long migration south.

A 16th-century English compound of 'on' plus 'set', originally meaning 'an assault, attack' (a setting-on), later generalized to 'a beginning'.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images