Bus
/bʌs/noun
A large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers along a fixed route or for scheduled transport.
Did you know?“Bus” is a clipped form of *omnibus*, a Latin-dative plural meaning “for all,” so the vehicle’s name originally meant something like “for everyone.”
Etymological Timeline
Early 19th Century
French
omnibus
“A public vehicle for carrying passengers, named from the Latin phrase meaning “for all.””
1820s
English
omnibus
“A horse-drawn public carriage for many passengers.”
1830s
English
bus
“A clipped, informal shortening of omnibus used for the vehicle.”
20th Century
English
bus
“A standard term for a motorized passenger vehicle.”
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