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1908, Henri L. Joly, Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore, Myths, Religious Symbolism, Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan, pages 263–264:
ONI鬼. Generic name for devils, the representation of which in art is quite a common feature. Onis have claws, a square head with two horns, sharp teeth, and malignant eyes surmounted by big eyebrows; occasionally they wear trousers of tiger skin.
1918, William Elliot Griffis, Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks:
Across the ocean, in Japan, there once lived curious creatures called Onis. Every Japanese boy and girl has heard of them, though one has not often been caught.
1979, Marian Ury, Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-Two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 147:
"That's no human being playing the instrument," he thought in amazement. "It can only be an oni or some such being."
1992, Karl M. Schwarz, Netsuke Subjects: A Study on the Netsuke Themes with Reference to Their Interpretation and Symbolism, Böhlau Verlag Wien, →ISBN, page 46:
The standing Shoki holds with his left hand an oni on his leg.
2005, Christopher Hart, Manga Mania Shoujo: How to Draw the Charming and Romantic Characters of Japanese Comics, →ISBN, page 69:
This is actually a boy bishie in the form of an ogre. It's called an oni in Japanese. Onis have supernatural powers that can command the forces of nature such as wind (to create hurricanes) and lightning (to create thunderbolts).
2011, Mike Shel, “Ecology of the Oni”, in Jade Regent: The Brinewall Legacy, Paizo Publishing, →ISBN, page 69:
The oni are a diverse group of evil spirits who take on the form of humanoid creatures so that they can enjoy the pleasures and vices of the flesh.
From Frenchon, ultimately from Latinhomō(“human being; man”). English one is not etymologically related to on, but its use as an indefinite personal pronoun was influenced by French. Doublet of homo.
(indefinite pronoun, vague meaning)they(some people, people in general)
Oni diras, ke Norvegio estas bonega loko por loĝi. ― They say Norway is a great place to live.
Usage notes
Comparable to the use of generic "you" in English (e.g. In America, you can do what you want).
A sentence whose subject is "oni" can often be translated as an English sentence in the passive voice, for example: "Oni ofte referencas al Kimrio kiel la 'lando de la kanto.'" can be translated as "Wales is often referred to as the 'land of song.'"
Although the accusative onin and the possessive onia are possible, they are far less frequent than oni itself. Correlatives such as iun(“someone (accusative)”) or ies(“someone's”) are often more natural in contexts where onin or onia might make sense: "one's mother tongue" will usually be rendered ies gepatra lingvo rather than onia gepatra lingvo, though the latter would still be correct. Note that where the subject of a clause is oni, anything that oni possesses in that clause will take the reflexive possessive sia, not onia: Oni plej nature pensas en sia gepatra lingvo (one thinks most naturally in one's mother tongue).
“oni”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2024
Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo.
Òní(“a child who cries non-stop until its naming ceremony”)
References
Awoyale, Yiwola (2008 December 19) Global Yoruba Lexical Database v. 1.0, volume LDC2008L03, Philadelphia: Linguistic Data Consortium, →DOI, →ISBN
Salem Ǒchála È̩jè̩bá (2016) A Grammar of Ígálâ, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria: The Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN), M & J Grand Orbit Communications Ltd., →ISBN
SIL International (2016) Dictionnaire Ifè (in French)