What does autobus mean?
An autobus is a large motor vehicle built to carry numerous passengers along a fixed route in exchange for a fare — in plain terms, a bus. The word entered English from French 'autobus', itself a blend of 'auto-' (from Greek 'autos', meaning self) and the tail of 'omnibus', the Latin phrase meaning 'for all' that gave English its original name for the horse-drawn public carriage. Although perfectly understood throughout the English-speaking world, 'autobus' now reads as formal, literary, or charmingly old-fashioned, since 'bus' has long since become the standard term. It retains everyday currency across much of Europe: in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and beyond, 'autobus' (or its local spelling) is simply what people call the bus. For English writers, the word is useful chiefly for historical colour, translation, or an intentional touch of elegance, as in describing early twentieth-century travel.
nounA large motor vehicle carrying passengers by road, typically one serving the public on a fixed route and for a fare; a formal or somewhat old-fashioned word for a bus.
- A large motor vehicle designed to carry many passengers along a fixed route for a fare; a bus.
"The morning autobus rattled through the village square on its way to the city centre."
"We boarded the crowded autobus at the terminus and rode it all the way to the coast."
"The city replaced its aging fleet of diesel autobuses with electric models last year."
Also occasionally spelled 'autobusses'; 'autobuses' is standard.
"Several autobuses were delayed by the snow."
In most of continental Europe, 'autobus' is just the everyday word for a bus — but say it in English and you suddenly sound like you stepped out of a vintage travel poster.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of autobus
'Autobus' comes from the French 'autobus', formed in the late nineteenth century by fusing 'auto-' (Greek 'autos', 'self') with '-bus', extracted from 'omnibus', the Latin dative plural of 'omnis' ('for all'), which named the horse-drawn urban carriages of the 1820s. The blend was coined around the arrival of self-propelled motor coaches to distinguish them from their horse-drawn predecessors. English borrowed the word directly from French in the same period, alongside cognates that spread across European languages.
How autobus is actually used
In contemporary English, 'autobus' sounds formal, dated, or deliberately quaint; 'bus' is the neutral everyday term. The word remains fully current in Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, and French, where it carries no such flavour.
Easily confused with autobus
An autobahn is a high-speed motorway in Germany and Austria, whereas an autobus is a passenger road vehicle — the two share only the 'auto' prefix.