bus

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word bus. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word bus, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say bus in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word bus you have here. The definition of the word bus will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofbus, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A bus (motor vehicle).

Etymology

Clipping of omnibus. Formerly often spelt 'bus. The electrical sense is derived from figurative application of the automotive sense.

Pronunciation

Noun

bus (plural buses or busses)

  1. (automotive) A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads; by extension, the driver of said vehicle
    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.
  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.[1]
  6. (networking) A network topology with each computer connected to a single cable.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

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.
    • 2024 March 13, Halya Coynash, “Russians with machine guns ensure occupied Ukraine ‘votes’ for Putin”, in Human Rights in Ukraine. The Information Portal of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group:
      Machine guns are the most effective form of ‘election campaigning’, but the occupiers appear to also be bussing in ‘voters’ from the Russian Federation, and ‘registering total strangers in the homes of people forced to flee after the Russian invasion.
    • 2024 March 14, Clive Ndou, “ANC set to open case against ‘ghost IFP voters’”, in The Witness:
      The ANC has accused the IFP of bussing in voters from other wards to vote during the recent Newcastle Municipality by-election won by the IFP.
  2. (transitive, automotive, transport, chiefly US) To transport students to school, often to a more distant school for the purposes of achieving racial integration.
    • 1966, Phil Ochs, “Love Me, I'm a Liberal”, in Phils Ochs in Concert:
      But if you ask me to bus my children / I hope the cops take down your name
    • 2008, Ashley R. Holm, Racial Differences in Student Engagement and Attainment: A Study of Topeka High School, 1939--1984, ProQuest, →ISBN, page 23:
      ...to strike down Detroit's federal court order to bus students across school district lines for the purpose of desegregation and therefore nullify many busing programs throughout the country.
  3. (intransitive, automotive, transport) To travel by bus.
  4. (transitive, US, food service) To clear meal remains from.
    He bussed tables as the restaurant emptied out.
  5. (intransitive, US, food service) To work at clearing the remains of meals from tables or counters; to work as a busboy.
    He’s been bussing for minimum wage.

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ Lighter, Jonathan (1972) “The Slang of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, 1917-1919: An Historical Glossary”, in American Speech, volume 47, number 1/2, page 26

Anagrams

Afar

Etymology

Akin to Saho bus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbus/
  • Hyphenation: bus

Noun

bús m (plural buswá f or busuusá f)

  1. vagina

Declension

Declension of bús
absolutive bús
predicative búsu
subjective bús
genitive bustí
Postpositioned forms
l-case búsul
k-case búsuk
t-case búsut
h-case búsuh

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

Noun

bus (plural busse, diminutive bussie)

  1. (automotive) bus

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

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

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

Czech

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

bus m inan

  1. bus (motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads)
    Synonym: autobus
Declension

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bus c (singular definite bussen, plural indefinite busser)

  1. bus, coach

Inflection

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation

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

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

Noun

bus m or f (plural bus)

  1. bus
    Synonym: autobus
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Pronunciation

Verb

bus

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

Participle

bus m pl

  1. masculine plural of bu

Further reading

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Sebuah bus yang berwarna biru kuning.

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

Alternative forms

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

Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from English bus.

Pronunciation

Noun

bus m (genitive singular bus, nominative plural busanna)

  1. bus
  2. (computing) bus

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
bus bhus mbus
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  1. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 48

Further reading

Kankanaey

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Kankanaey) IPA(key): /ˈbus/
    • IPA(key): (parts of Bauko, Sabangan, & Tadian) /ˈbuh/
  • Rhymes: -us, (parts of Bauko, Sabangan, & Tadian) -uh
  • Syllabification: bus

Noun

bus

  1. the 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)‎, 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

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

Noun

bus

  1. hole

Maltese

Pronunciation

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

Norman

Verb

bus

  1. first-person singular preterite of baithe

Polish

bus

Pronunciation

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
nouns

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

Noun

bus m

  1. hole
    • September 2012, Daniela Cortesi, Bônanòta in la Ludla, il Papiro, page 15:
      un sorg e’ cor in priscia int e’ su bus.
      a mouse runs hastily towards its hole.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Middle Irish bus.

Pronunciation

Noun

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

  1. mouth
    Synonym: beul
  2. pout (facial expression)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English bus.

Pronunciation

Noun

bus m (genitive singular bus, plural busaichean)

  1. bus

Mutation

Mutation of bus
radical lenition
bus bhus

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Somali

Noun

bus ?

  1. dust

Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bus m (plural buses)

  1. Clipping of autobús; bus
    Synonyms: autobús; see also Thesaurus:autobús

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

From the verb busa (make mischief, prank).

Pronunciation

Noun

bus n (uncountable)

  1. (fairly innocent) mischief (by children), pranking
    bus eller godis
    trick or treat ("mischief or candy")
  2. (colloquial, chiefly in the definite "buset") criminals (on the lower rungs of the social ladder)
    att ta fast buset
    to catch the criminals

Usage notes

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

Declension

Derived terms

  • busa (make mischief, prank)

References

Anagrams

Tagalog

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bus

  1. bush (remote rural areas)
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:25:
      God i kamapim ol kain kain animal bilong ples na ol bikpela na liklik animal bilong bus. God i lukim olgeta dispela samting i gutpela, na em i amamas.
      →New International Version translation

Derived terms

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