onset
onset — 名詞
1. the point when something starts, most often a disease, a difficulty, or another
初起；發作
疾病、問題等剛開始時
the point when something starts, most often a disease, a difficulty, or another unwelcome change.
The sudden onset of fever worried the parents.
孩子發燒初起時，讓父母很擔心。
sudden onset of + symptom
With the onset of winter, buses reached the mountain village less often.
冬天來臨後，巴士前往山村的班次變少了。
with the onset of + season
Marcus noticed the onset of pain while climbing the last stairs.
Marcus 爬最後幾級樓梯時，注意到疼痛開始發作。
After the onset of the storm, fishing boats hurried back to shore.
暴風雨開始後，許多漁船急忙開回岸邊。
The nurse recorded the onset of symptoms at three in the morning.
護理師把症狀初起的時間記成凌晨三點。
文法句型
the onset of + illness/problem/season
用法筆記
Common in formal writing with 'of', especially for illness, pain, bad weather, war, or other major changes. Distinguish from the everyday 'start' or 'beginning': 'onset' is less natural for ordinary happy events like parties or holidays.
常見錯誤
2. the opening consonant sound, or consonant group, before the vowel in a syllable.
聲母
音節裡元音前的聲音部分
the opening consonant sound, or consonant group, before the vowel in a syllable.
Pointing at 'play' on the board, Ms. Lin said the onset is /pl/.
Ms. Lin 指著黑板上的 play 說，聲母是 /pl/ 這組音。
onset in phonetics
The teacher wrote the onset and the rhyme in different colors.
老師用不同顏色寫出聲母和韻部。
During reading class, Mia stumbled on 'street' because its complex onset confused her.
在閱讀課上，Mia 念到 street 時，因為複雜聲母而卡住了。
When Leo said 'me' slowly, the teacher marked /m/ as the onset.
Leo 慢慢念出 me 時，老師把 /m/ 標成聲母。
- initial consonant
close in simple cases, but onset can include more than one consonant
- syllable opening
plain-English explanation rather than the standard technical label
- coda
the consonant sound after the vowel in a syllable
文法句型
the onset is + sound
complex onset
用法筆記
Used in phonetics and phonology when a syllable is divided into parts such as onset and rhyme. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is a technical term about speech sounds, not about the beginning of an event or illness.
常見錯誤
onset — 字尾
1. added after another word to show when an illness begins or what kind of beginnin
發病型
表示疾病何時或如何開始
added after another word to show when an illness begins or what kind of beginning it has, as in 'late-onset' or 'sudden-onset'.
Her father developed late-onset diabetes after turning sixty.
她父親六十歲後得了晚發型糖尿病。
late-onset + disease
The report described sudden-onset hearing loss after the explosion.
報告描述了爆炸後突發性的聽力喪失。
At the memory clinic, doctors study early-onset dementia in people under sixty-five.
在記憶門診裡，醫師研究六十五歲前發病的失智症。
After months of coughing, Grace learned she had adult-onset asthma.
咳了好幾個月後，Grace 才知道自己得了成人後發病的氣喘。
文法句型
[word]-onset + illness/condition
用法筆記
Almost always appears in hyphenated medical compounds before the name of a disease or condition. Distinguish from noun sense 1: this sense is not a free-standing noun, but part of forms such as 'late-onset' and 'early-onset'.