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Synonyms
on·set (ŏńsĕt́, ôń-)

noun 

  1. An onslaught; an assault.
  2. A beginning; a start: the onset of a cold.
  3. Linguistics The part of a syllable that precedes the nucleus. In the word nucleus (nōṓklē-əs), the onset of the first syllable is (n), the onset of the second syllable is (kl), and the last syllable has no onset.