bus English · revision 3018

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1832|origins=la omnibus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʌs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortening of [[omnibus]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) which comes from [[la|omnibus|t=for all]], the dative plural of omnis “all”.^(Etymonline) Etymonline remarks that the English noun is nothing but a Latin dative plural ending.^(Etymonline) The verb is from the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A public street carriage: 1832.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, “to travel by bus”, is from 1838.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) ''Busman's holiday'', leisure time spent doing what one does for a living, is from 1893, probably from London omnibus drivers riding the buses on their days off.^(Etymonline) ''To miss the bus'', “to lose an opportunity”, is Australian English from 1901,^(Etymonline) though the OED has a figurative ''miss the omnibus'' from 1886.^(OED 1989) The word was applied to a motor car or aeroplane from 1910.^(OED 1989) Clearing tables in a restaurant is by 1892, probably from the four-wheeled carts used to carry dishes.^(Etymonline) In electricity a ''bus'' is short for ''bus-bar'' (1930),^(OED 1989) and in computing it is a circuit that carries data between parts.^(AHD) The transitive verb, “to transport students to other schools to integrate them”, is American English from 1961,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and ''busing'' in that sense from 1964.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1832 – a public carriage.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1838 – verb, to travel by bus.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1886 – ''miss the omnibus''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1892 – to clear tables.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1893 – ''busman's holiday''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1901 – ''miss the bus''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1930 – a bus-bar.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1961 – verb, to transport students to integrate schools.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large motor vehicle that carries passengers, usually along a fixed [[route]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A four-wheeled cart for carrying dishes in a restaurant.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(electricity)'' A bus-bar, a conductor joining several circuits.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(computing)'' A set of parallel [[circuit|alt=circuits]] connecting the main parts of a computer so that data can pass between them.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To travel or carry by bus.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To transport children by bus to a school outside their area, to [[integrate]] schools.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To clear dishes from tables in a restaurant.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[busgirl]]

+ * [[busload]]

+ * [[busman]]

+ * [[microbus]]

+ * [[waterbus]]

+ * [[busway]]

+ * [[minibus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[omnibus]]

+ * [[trolleybus]]

+ * [[autobus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural is ''buses'' or ''busses'', and the verb forms ''bused, busing'' or ''bussed, bussing''.^(Roach et al. 2011) Other words spelled ''bus'' in the OED are a short form of ''harquebus'' (1549) and of ''business'' (1864).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}