bus

English Online Dictionary. What means bus‎? What does bus mean?

English

Etymology 1

Clipping of omnibus. Superseded earlier 'bus, where the apostrophe indicated a clipping. The shift in spelling likely reflects the fact that modern speakers no longer perceive this term as a clipping. The electrical sense is derived from figurative application of the automotive sense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʌs/, enPR: bŭs
  • (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /bʊs/
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): /bʌs/
  • (General Australian, New Zealand, Mid-Atlantic, Philippines) IPA^(key): /bɐs/
  • (Northern Cities Vowel Shift, Ireland) IPA^(key): /bɔs/
  • (Birmingham, Black Country) IPA^(key): /bʊz/
• Homophones: Buss, buss
• Rhymes: -ʌs

Noun

bus (plural buses or busses)

1. (automotive) A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.

   Synonyms: autobus, coach, loser cruiser, motorbus, motorcoach, omnibus, Shillibeer (obsolete)

   Hyponyms: booze bus, commuter bus, school bus, short bus

   1. (chiefly US, Canada) A coach, a bus used for long travels.
2. An electrical conductor or interface serving as a common connection for two or more circuits or components.

   Synonyms: busbar, digit trunk, electrical bus

   Hyponym: data bus

3. Part of a MIRV missile, having on-board motors used to deliver the warhead to a target.
4. (medical industry, slang) An ambulance.
5. (military slang, 1910s–1940s) An aeroplane.
6. (networking) A network topology with each computer connected to a single cable.

Alternative forms

• 'bus (archaic)

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

bus (third-person singular simple present busses or buses, present participle bussing or busing, simple past and past participle bussed or bused)

1. (transitive, automotive, transport) To transport via a motor bus.
2. (transitive, automotive, transport, chiefly US) To transport students to school, often to a more distant school for the purposes of achieving racial integration.
3. (intransitive, automotive, transport) To travel by bus.

Usage notes

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary only presents the spellings buses, busing, and bused, implying that these are the predominant forms in Canada.

Translations

Etymology 2

Back-formation from busboy.

Verb

bus (third-person singular simple present busses or buses, present participle bussing or busing, simple past and past participle bussed or bused)

1. (transitive, US, food service) To clear meal remains from.
2. (intransitive, US, food service) To work at clearing the remains of meals from tables or counters; to work as a busboy.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• SBU, UBS, USB, sub, sub-, sub.

Afar

Etymology

Akin to Saho bus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbʊs]
• Hyphenation: bus

Noun

bús m (plural buswá f or busuusá f)

1. vagina

Declension

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “bus”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbœs/, [ˈbəs]

Noun

bus (plural busse, diminutive bussie)

1. (automotive) bus

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbus]
• Homophone: vos (Central)

Etymology 1

Cognate to Spanish buso (“underwater snail”) and Portuguese búzio (“underwater snail”), from Latin būcina (“horn”).

Noun

bus m or f by sense (plural bussos)

1. diver

Derived terms

• bussejar

Etymology 2

Probably from Old Norse buza (“big wide ship”).

Noun

bus m (plural bussos)

1. (archaic) a large sailing ship used in the 12th and 13th centuries, broad of beam and with two or three masts

Etymology 3

Probably from Persian بوس (bus, “kiss”).

Noun

bus m (plural busos)

1. (archaic) flattery

Usage notes

• Only found in the phrase fer lo bus (“to kiss up”).

Etymology 4

Clipping of autobús.

Noun

bus m (plural busos)

1. bus (vehicle)

Etymology 5

Borrowed from English bus.

Noun

bus m (plural busos)

1. bus (electrical connector)

Further reading

• “bus”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Cimbrian

Etymology

From Italian bus, a clipping of omnibus, from French omnibus.

Noun

bus m

1. (Luserna) bus (vehicle)

   Benn rifta dar bus? ― What time does the bus come?

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Czech

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbus]

Noun

bus m inan

1. bus (motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads)

   Synonym: autobus

Declension

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbas]

Noun

bus m inan

1. (computing) bus (an electrical interface connecting two or more components)

Declension

Danish

Etymology

Shortening of omnibus, from French omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“for all”), dative plural of omnis (“all”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bus/, [b̥us]

Noun

bus c (singular definite bussen, plural indefinite busser)

1. bus, coach

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʏs/
• Hyphenation: bus
• Rhymes: -ʏs
• Homophone: Bus

Etymology 1

Shortening of omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“for everything/all”); dative plural of omnis (“all”).

Noun

bus m (plural bussen, diminutive busje n)

1. (transport) bus, omnibus (vehicle)
2. (transport, in diminutive) minibus, minivan
3. bus (electrical conductor)

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Caribbean Javanese: bis
• → Papiamentu: bùs
• → Sranan Tongo: bùs
  • → Aukan: besi
  • → Saramaccan: bési

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch busse, from Old Dutch *bussa, from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā. Doublet of buks (“shotgun”), box, and pyxis.

Noun

bus f (plural bussen, diminutive busje n)

1. a container, a box, a tin
2. a bushing
3. (chiefly historical) one of a variety of early modern firearms, such as flintlock and matchlock guns
4. (dated, Netherlands) a voluntary sick fund, especially before the introduction of universal health care in the Netherlands in the 1940s

Derived terms

Descendants

• Petjo: bus
• → Indonesian: bis (“letterbox, mailbox”)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. Related to etymology 2.

Verb

bus

1. inflection of bussen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

French

Etymology 1

Clipping of omnibus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bys/
• Homophones: busse, busses, bussent

Noun

bus m or f (plural bus)

1. bus

   Synonym: autobus

Derived terms

• arrêt de bus
• bus accordéon
• bus scolaire
• service rapide par bus

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /by/
• Homophones: bu, bue, bues, but, bût

Verb

bus

1. first/second-person singular past historic of boire

Participle

bus m pl

1. masculine plural of bu

Further reading

• “bus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʊs/
• IPA^(key): (alternative pronunciations, especially for the word of etymology 1) /bɪs/, /bəs/, /bɘs/, /bas/
  • For the pronunciations /bəs/, /bɘs/, comparable to Afrikaans bus.
• Rhymes: -bʊs
• Hyphenation: bus

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch bus, shortening of omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“for everything/all”); dative plural of omnis (“all”).

Alternative forms

• bis (nonstandard)

Noun

bus

1. bus (a motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic, related to embus.

Noun

bus

1. imitation sound of blowing wind; can be roughly translated as whoosh

Further reading

• “bus” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from English bus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bˠʊsˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bˠɞsˠ/

Noun

bus m (genitive singular bus, nominative plural busanna)

1. bus
2. (computing) bus

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bus”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “bus”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bus”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm

Kankanaey

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbos]
  • Rhymes: -us
• (parts of Bauko, Sabangan and Tadian) IPA^(key): /ˈbuh/ [ˈboh]
  • Rhymes: -uh
• Syllabification: bus

Noun

bus

1. state of abundance/plentifulness of water (in wells, rivers, etc.)

Derived terms

References

• Morice Vanoverbergh (1933) “bus”, in A Dictionary of Lepanto Igorot or Kankanay. As it is spoken at Bauco (Linguistische Anthropos-Bibliothek; XII)‎^[4], Mödling bei Wien, St. Gabriel, Österreich: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift „Anthropos“, →OCLC, page 104

Lithuanian

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bʊs]

Verb

bùs

1. third-person singular future of būti
2. third-person plural future of būti
3. third-person singular future of busti
4. third-person plural future of busti

Lombard

Etymology

Akin to Italian buca, ultimately from Latin bucca, whence French French bouche.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /byːs/

Noun

bus

1. hole

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buːs/

Verb

bus

1. second-person singular imperative of bies

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *bussus, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to swell, bulge”).

Noun

bus (gender unknown)

1. (rare, poetic) lip

Descendants

• Irish: pus
• Scottish Gaelic: bus

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “4 bus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*bussu-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 84

Norman

Verb

bus

1. first-person singular preterite of baithe

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/
• Rhymes: -us
• Syllabification: bus

Etymology 1

Clipping of autobus. Calque of English bus.

Noun

bus m animal or m inan (diminutive busik)

1. (colloquial) bus (motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads)

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Clipping of mikrobus.

Noun

bus m animal or m inan (diminutive busik)

1. (colloquial) van (motor vehicle used to carry goods or, usually, up to 10 people)

Declension

Further reading

• bus in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bus in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romagnol

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bus/

Noun

bus m

1. hole
   • September 2012, Daniela Cortesi, Bônanòta in la Ludla, il Papiro, page 15:

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Middle Irish bus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b̥us̪/

Noun

bus m (genitive singular buis, plural buis or busan)

1. mouth

   Synonym: beul

2. pout (facial expression)

Derived terms

• busach (“pouty; sullen”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English bus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b̥ɤs̪/

Noun

bus m (genitive singular bus, plural busaichean)

1. bus

Mutation

Somali

Noun

bus ?

1. dust

Spanish

Etymology

Shortening of autobús (in Spain) or borrowed from English bus (in Latin America).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbus]
• Rhymes: -us
• Syllabification: bus

Noun

bus m (plural buses)

1. clipping of autobús; bus

   Synonyms: autobús; see also Thesaurus:autobús

2. (computing) bus

Usage notes

• In Spain, bus is a colloquial word and in Latin America it is a formal word.

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “bus”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

From the verb busa (“make mischief, prank”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʉːs/, [bʉ͍ːs]
• Rhymes: -ʉːs

Noun

bus n (uncountable)

1. (fairly innocent) mischief (by children), pranking

2. (colloquial, chiefly in the definite "buset") criminals (on the lower rungs of the social ladder)

Usage notes

Associated with mischief and pranks by children, with ironic extensions to adults fooling around and criminality.

Declension

Derived terms

• busig
• buslur
• busunge
• busvissla
• NetBus

References

• bus in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker

Anagrams

• sub

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English bus, clipping of omnibus, from French omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“to/for all”).

Pronunciation

• (common) IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbus]
  • Rhymes: -us
  • Syllabification: bus
• (Taglish) IPA^(key): /ˈbas/ [ˈbas]
  • Rhymes: -as

Noun

bus (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜐ᜔ or ᜊᜐ᜔)

1. bus (vehicle)

   Synonym: awtobus

2. bus (electrical conductor)

Usage notes

• The pronunciation /bas/ is commonly used in Taglish speech, especially by younger speakers.

Derived terms

See also

References

• “bus”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English bush.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bus/

Noun

bus

1. bush (remote rural areas)

Derived terms

• bus kanaka

West Flemish

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch busch, variant of bosch, from Old Dutch *busc, from Proto-Germanic *buskaz.

Noun

bus n

1. forest

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Same as Dutch "bus", but is it derived from that or shortened from "omnibus" independently?”)

Noun

bus m

1. bus