Etymology

onerous

O1N1E1R1O1U1S1

Today it means: Imposing or constituting a physical, mental, or figurative load which can be borne only with effort; burdensome. Full definition →

Middle English onerous ← Middle French onereux ← Old French onereus
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₃en(H)-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₃én(H)os
  3. Proto-Italic*onos
  4. Latinonus
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
  7. Latinonerosu
  8. Old Frenchonereus
  9. Middle Frenchonereux
  10. Middle Englishonerous
  11. English todayonerous

Inherited from Middle English onerous, borrowed from Middle French onereux, from Old French onereus, a learned borrowing from Latin onerosus, from onus (“burden”) + -ōsus. Compare exonerate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.