English
omnibus
Omnibus comes from French (voiture) omnibus ‘(carriage) for all’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opnis‘every, all’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnis‘all’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnibus‘for all’dative plural of omnis
- Frenchc. 1600–present(voiture) omnibus‘(carriage) for all’
- Englishearliest quotation 1830omnibus
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opnis‘every, all’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnis‘all’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnibus‘for all’dative plural of omnis
- Frenchc. 1600–present(voiture) omnibus‘(carriage) for all’
- Englishearliest quotation 1830omnibus
Earliest quotation: 1830, James Scott Walker, The Small Tunnel: “In front of the latter [coach-houses for railway carriages]…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’
office, official, operation, copy, operate, operator, opera, copious, opus, oeuvre, opulence, officiate, officiant, officious, 23 more
through Latin omnis ‘all’
through Latin omnibus ‘for all’
Today it means
noun A bus (vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- / omnibus