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onion
onion plant of the family Liliaceae ( lily family), of the same genus ( Allium ) as the chive ( A. schoenoprasum ), garlic ( A. sativum ), leek ( A. porrum ), and shallot ( A. ascalonium ). These plants are characterized by an edible bulb composed of food-storage leaves that are rich in sugar and a pungent oil, the source of its strong taste. The above-ground green leaves, typically long and tubular, are also eaten. All these species are believed to be native to SW Asia and are known to have been cultivated since ancient times. The onion ( A. cepa ), no longer found wild, is a biennial now grown in many varieties throughout the world as a table vegetable. Common varieties include the strong-flavored red onion, the milder yellow onion, and the bland white onion. Pearl onions are small white onions used for pickling. The large Spanish and Bermuda onions have a delicate flavor. The onion was grown extensively by the ancient Egyptians, in whose writings it is mentioned, and was later spread by the Spanish colonists. The more pungent garlic, a perennial, has a bulb consisting of small bulbils called cloves. This part is most often used in cooking, chiefly as flavoring; garlic is especially popular in the Mediterranean region and East Asia. Used as a folk remedy for thousands of years, scientific investigation is confirming garlic's usefulness as a blood thinner, antioxidant, and cancer preventive. The shallot (supposedly introduced to Europe from Ascalon, or Ashqelon, by the Crusaders, hence the botanical name) is a perennial with clusters of small onionlike bulbs. It and the more familiar leek, a biennial with a small single bulb, are both commonly used fresh in salads, as asparaguslike cooked vegetables, and in soups and stews. The leek, cultivated in ancient Egypt and probably introduced to England by the Romans, is the floral emblem of the Welsh, who adorn their hats with its leaves on St. David's Day. Scallion is a popular term for any edible Allium with a reduced bulb, especially the leek and shallot. The Welsh onion ( A. fistulosum ) is a leeklike plant popular in Asia. The chive, today found wild in Italy and Greece, is a hardy perennial sometimes used as an ornamental border plant. For flavoring, its leaves are the most desirable portion. Several species of Allium are native to North America, where the edible types were collected by Native Americans. The ramp or wild leek ( A. tricoccum ) has a garlicky onion flavor. Found in E North America, it has a narrow bulb, thin reddish stem, and two to three elliptical, lancelike leaves. It is prized as a spring vegetable and is overharvested in some areas. Because of the disagreeable odor and taste imparted to the milk of cows that feed upon them, some species are considered weeds, especially the common wild garlic, A. vineale, naturalized from Europe. Onion is classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Liliopsida, order Liliales, family Liliaceae. |
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"onion." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "onion." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-onion.html "onion." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-onion.html |
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Onion
OnionThe onion was regarded as a symbol of the universe by the ancient Egyptians, and many beliefs were associated with it. It was believed that it attracted and absorbed infectious matters and was usually hung in rooms to prevent illness. This belief in the absorptive power of the onion is still prevalent. British folklorist James Napier noted: "When a youth, I remember the following story being told, and implicitly believed by all. There was once a certain king or nobleman who was in want of a physician, and two celebrated doctors applied. As both could not obtain the situation, they agreed among themselves that the one was to try to poison the other, and he who succeeded in overcoming the poison would thus be left free to fill the situation. They drew lots as to who should first take the poison. The first dose given was a stewed toad, but the party who took it immediately applied a poultice of peeled onions over his stomach, and thus abstracted all the poison of the toad. Two days after, the other doctor was given the onions to eat. He ate them, and died. It was generally believed that the poultice of peeled onions laid on the stomach, or underneath the armpits, would cure anyone who had taken poison." |
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"Onion." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Onion." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403803366.html "Onion." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403803366.html |
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Onions
ONIONSONIONS, apparently native to Asia, were unknown to the American Indians. Early colonists first brought them to America. Wethersfield, Connecticut, soon became a noted onion-growing center. Records show that Wethersfield was shipping onions as early as 1710. A century later it was sending out a million bunches annually. Nonetheless, as onion culture spread to all parts of the country, Wethersfield lost its preeminence. Soon after 1900 extensive production of Bermuda onions began in Texas, California, and Louisiana. By 2002 Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and California had come to lead the United States in onion production. In that year the American onion crop was worth between $3 billion and $4 billion retail. BIBLIOGRAPHYBenes, Peter. Two Towns, Concord and Wethersfield: A Comparative Exhibition of Regional Culture, 1635–1850. Concord, Mass.: Concord Antiquarian Museum, 1982. Main, Jackson Turner. Society and Economy in Colonial Connecticut. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985. Alvin F.Harlow/a. e. See alsoAgriculture ; Food and Cuisines . |
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"Onions." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Onions." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401803083.html "Onions." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401803083.html |
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onion
on·ion / ˈənyən/ • n. 1. an edible bulb with a pungent taste and smell, composed of several concentric layers, used in cooking. 2. the plant (Allium cepa) of the lily family that produces this bulb, with long rolled or straplike leaves and spherical heads of greenish-white flowers. PHRASES: know one's onions inf. be very knowledgeable about something.DERIVATIVES: on·ion·y adj. |
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"onion." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "onion." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-onion.html "onion." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-onion.html |
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onion
onion know one's onions be very knowledgeable about something.
not the only onion in the stew not the only person or thing to be considered. onion dome a dome which bulges in the middle and rises to a point, used especially in Russian church architecture. |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "onion." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "onion." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-onion.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "onion." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-onion.html |
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onion
onion Hardy, bulb-forming, biennial plant of the lily family, native to central Asia, and cultivated worldwide for its strong-smelling, edible bulb. It has hollow leaves, white or lilac flowers. Height: to 130cm (50in). Family Alliaceae/Liliaceae.
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"onion." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "onion." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-onion.html "onion." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-onion.html |
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onion
onion Bulb of Allium cepa; there are many varieties with white, brown, and red (purple) skins. A 60–g portion, raw, supplies 20 kcal (80 kJ); boiled onions supply half of this.
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DAVID A. BENDER. "onion." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAVID A. BENDER. "onion." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-onion.html DAVID A. BENDER. "onion." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-onion.html |
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onion
onion XIV. ME. unyon, oyn(y)on — AN. union, (O)F. oignon, L. uniōnem, nom. uniō.
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T. F. HOAD. "onion." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "onion." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-onion.html T. F. HOAD. "onion." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-onion.html |
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onion
onion (Allium See LILIACEAE.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "onion." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "onion." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-onion.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "onion." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-onion.html |
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onion
onion •Italian, stallion
•cañon, canyon, companion
•hellion, rebellion
•Kenyan
•Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian
•billion, jillion, million, modillion, multimillion, pillion, septillion, sextillion, squillion, trillion, zillion
•minion, opinion, pinion
•carillon • slumgullion
•bunion, Bunyan, grunion, onion, Runyon
•roentgen • damson • Kansan • Tarzan
•blazon, brazen, emblazon, liaison, raisin
•Spätlesen
•reason, season, treason
•arisen, grison, imprison, mizzen, prison, risen, uprisen
•Pilsen • crimson • malison
•benison, denizen
•orison • citizen
•bedizen, greisen, horizon, kaizen
•Stockhausen
•chosen, frozen
•Lederhosen • poison • Susan
•cousin, cozen, dozen
•Amazon
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"onion." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "onion." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-onion.html "onion." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-onion.html |
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Onions
Onions •banns, glans, Prestonpans, sans
•Octans
•Benz, cleanse, Fens, gens, lens
•Homo sapiens • impatiens • nolens volens • delirium tremens • Serpens
•vas deferens • Cairns • Keynes
•Jeans, means, Queens, smithereens
•Owens • Robbins • Rubens • gubbins
•Hitchens • O'Higgins
•Huggins, juggins, muggins
•imagines • Jenkins • Eakins • Dickens
•Wilkins • Hopkins
•Dawkins, Hawkins
•Collins • Gobelins • widdershins
•matins • Martens • Athens • avens
•Heinz • confines • Apennines
•bonze, bronze, Johns, mod cons, Mons, St John's
•Downs, grounds, hash-browns, Townes
•Jones, nones
•lazybones • sawbones • fivestones
•New Orleans, Orléans
•Lions, Lyons
•Gibbons • St Albans • Siddons
•shenanigans • Huygens • vengeance
•goujons • St Helens • Hollands
•Newlands • Brooklands • Netherlands
•Siemens • Symons • commons
•summons • Lorenz • Parsons
•Goossens
•Lamentations, United Nations
•Colossians • Sextans • Buttons
•Evans • Stevens • Ovens • Onions
•Lutyens
•Cousins, Cozens
•Burns
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Cite this article
"Onions." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Onions." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Onions.html "Onions." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Onions.html |
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