Omnibus

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɒmniËŒbÊŒs/

Origin

From Latin omnibus ("for all"), dative plural of omnis ("all")

Noun

1. (dated) A vehicle set up to carry many people (now usually called a bus).
• 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate Chapter Prologue, Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. No omnibus, cab, or conveyance ever built could contain a young man in such a rage. His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn.
• 1911, E. M. Forster, The Celestial Omnibus"Please, is that an omnibus?"
  "Omnibus est," said the driver, without turning round.
• 1959, Michael Flanders, At the Drop of a HatOmnibus, my friend Mr. Swann informs me, comes from the Latin omnibus, meaning to or for by with or from everybody, which is a very good description. Well, this song is about a bus, it's wittily subtitled - I thought of this - 'A Transport of Delight'.
• 1988, Rowan Atkinson as Ebenezer Blackadder in "Blackadder's Christmas Carol", written by Richard Curtis and Ben EltonBaldrick, I want you to take this money and go out, and buy a turkey so large you'd think its mother had been rogered by an omnibus.
2. An anthology of previously released material linked together by theme or author, especially in book form.
3. A broadcast program consisting of all of the episodes of a serial that have been shown in the previous week.
   The omnibus edition of "The Archers" is broadcast every Sunday morning at 11.00.
4. (philately) A stamp issue, usually commemorative, that appears simultaneously in several countries as a joint issue.

Derived terms

• bus

Full definition of omnibus

Adjective

1. Containing multiple items.The legislature enacted an omnibus appropriations bill.

Verb

1. (transitive) To combine (legislative bills, etc.) into a single package.----