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omnibus

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Etymology and origin of the French word omnibus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1828 Journal de Paris More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin omnis
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French omnibus
English omnibus
Derivations
From the same root
English bus ← omnibus

Pronunciation

  • /ɔm.ni.bys/[1]

Forms

omnibus m (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is from French voiture omnibus (“carriage for all”), shortened by ellipsis.[2][3][4] In that phrase the second word is the Latin omnibus (“for all”), the dative plural of omnis (“all, every”).[2][3][4][1] The full phrase is recorded only in 1835, in the Académie's dictionary, later than the short form.[2][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in the Journal de Paris of 16 July 1828, which reports that some of the cabs of Paris would stand in public squares under the name Omnibus and take passengers for twenty-five centimes each.[2] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1825.[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Pascal had already planned public transport in Paris, and a first service was tried in 1662, but its vehicles were simply called carrosses.[4][3] From the early 19th century omnibus named the public vehicle carrying passengers through the city, first drawn by horses and later motorised.[3][2]

The word soon passed into railway use, as a noun in 1836 for a class of unsprung carriages and as an adjective in train omnibus (1876).[2][3] There its sense changed: it was understood as a train that stops at every station, as opposed to a direct one.[3][7] Later it entered electrical engineering, in barre omnibus (1953 according to the TLFi, 1963 according to Rey), and banking.[2][3] Shortened, it gave bus (1893), from which comes autobus (about 1907).[3][4]

English took the word from French in 1829, and London used it from that year; the English clipping bus dates from 1832.[8]

Timeline

  • 1662 – A first public carriage service is tried in Paris; its vehicles are called carrosses.[4][3]
  • 1825 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the word.[4]
  • 1828 – The Journal de Paris reports the new cabs called Omnibus.[2]
  • 1829 – English takes over the word.[8]
  • 1835 – The Académie records voiture omnibus; the feminine une omnibus is also found that year.[2][9]
  • 1836 – A railway report calls a class of unsprung carriages omnibus.[2]
  • 1876 – Train omnibus is recorded in Larousse.[2]
  • 1893 – The clipping bus appears.[3]
  • 1953 – Barre omnibus appears in electrical engineering.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) A public vehicle, first horse-drawn and later motorised, carrying passengers on a fixed route through a town: voyager sur l'impériale.[7][2][1]
  2. (rail transport) A stopping train, one that calls at every station on its route.[7][2]
  3. (electricity) Barre omnibus: a heavy bus bar linking a generator to the circuits it feeds.[7][2]

Adjective

  1. (rail transport) Stopping at every station: train omnibus;[7][1] le train de nuit est omnibus après Dijon.[7][1]
  2. (dated) Serving many people or purposes at once.[10]

Word family

Usage notes

Littré notes that ordinary speakers often made the word feminine, thinking of voiture, and that a thief caught loitering at night would claim to be waiting for the omnibus.[10][9] The noun is invariable.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Cite this entry

“Omnibus.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/omnibus. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·