autobus Italian · revision 38826

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1913|origins=grc αὐτός, la omnis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈaw.to.bus/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''autobus''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|autobus]], recorded in Italian in 1913.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The French word joins [[m|fr|auto-]] of [[m|fr|automobile]] with [[m|fr|-bus]], the end of [[m|fr|omnibus]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI) Nocentini calls it a Greek and Latin neologism: the ending was taken from [[la|omnibus|t=for all]], the dative plural of [[m|la|omnis|t=all]].^(Nocentini 2010) The first part comes in the end from [[grc|αὐτός|tr=autós|t=self]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The horse-drawn [[omnibus]] was first named in French, from a phrase meaning “carriage for all”;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI reports that the name may have been helped by the surname of the first operator, Omnès, or of a friend of his.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The short form [[bus]] is recorded in Italian in 1935, after [[fr|bus]] (1893).^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is first recorded in 1913 for a large motor vehicle for public passenger transport.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Nocentini 2010) Panzini described it as a French word meaning a motor omnibus.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Panzini noted that the usual pronunciation was ''àutobus'', but that some said ''autòbus'' and ''autobùs''.^(GDLI) The figurative phrase ''perdere l'autobus'', to miss the bus and so to miss a chance, is given by the modern dictionaries.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The GDLI quotes Panzini, Enrico Pea, Emilio Cecchi, Carlo Emilio Gadda and Corrado Alvaro on the new buses, which in Pea's village did in three quarters of an hour what the stagecoach did in half a morning.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1836 – ''Omnibus'' is recorded in Italian for the horse-drawn carriage.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1893 – French ''bus'' is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1913 – ''Autobus'' is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1935 – The clipped ''bus'' appears.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|bus]]: a large motor vehicle carrying passengers on city and suburban routes: ''Prendo l'autobus delle otto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[autobussistico]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[omnibus]]

+ * [[bus]]

+ * [[automobile]]

+ * [[fr|autobus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The stress is on the first syllable, ''àutobus'';^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GDLI) ''autobùs'' is popular and ''autòbus'' is to be avoided.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GDLI) The noun is invariable: ''gli autobus''.^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) ''Perdere l'autobus'' means to miss an opportunity.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}