Standard Lemma guide

autobus

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɔːtə(ʊ)bʌs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈɔtoʊˌbʌs/
  • General-American: [ˈɔɾə-]
  • cot-caught-merger: /ˈɑtoʊˌbʌs/
  • cot-caught-merger: [ˈɑɾə-]

1

noun

Meaning 1

A motorbus, as opposed to earlier horse-drawn buses.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

Topics: road, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton (“main group of riders”) in a race.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Qualifier: cycle racing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: groupetto, gruppetto, laughing group

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a vehicle carrying many passengers; used for public transport

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he always rode the bus to work

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bus, coach, charabanc, double-decker, jitney, motorbus, motorcoach, omnibus, passenger vehicle

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: public transport

Narrower terms: minibus, school bus, trolleybus, trolley coach, trackless trolley

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder.? Proto-Indo-European *sóder.? Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder. Ancient Greek αὖ (aû) Ancient Greek τόν (tón)? Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)lbor. French auto- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh1- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh1éyetider. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dhlom Proto-Indo-European *-dhlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin mōbilislbor. French mobile French automobilebor. English automobileclip. English auto- English bus English autobus From auto- (prefix meaning ‘self’, in the sense of being self-propelled) + bus. Sense 2 (“large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton”) is borrowed from French autobus.

Across languages

Translations

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Arabic: أُتُوبُوس (ʔutūbūs) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Arabic: أُتُوبِيس (ʔutūbīs) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Arabic: طوبيس (tobis) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܐܘܿܛܘܿܒܘܼܣ (ōṭōbūs) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܵܘܒܠܵܢܬܵܐ (māwblāntā) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Azerbaijani: avtobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Basque: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Belarusian: аўто́бус (awtóbus) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Bezhta: автобус (avtobus) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Crimean Tatar: avtobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Czech: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Dutch: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Esperanto: aŭtobuso — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • French: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Galician: autobús — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • German: Autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Greek: οτομπίς (otompís) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Greek: οτομπούς (otompoús) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Indonesian: otobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Italian: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Karakalpak: аўтобус — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Khmer: អូតូប៊ុស (ʼoutoubuh) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Latvian: autobuss — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Malagasy: aotobosy — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Persian: اتوبوس (otobus) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Polish: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Romanian: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Romanian: autobuz — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Russian: авто́бус (avtóbus) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Serbo-Croatian: ауто́бус — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Serbo-Croatian: autóbus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Sicilian: autubbussu — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Slovak: autobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Slovene: ȃvtobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Spanish: autobús — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Tajik: автобус (avtobus) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Turkish: otobüs — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Ottoman Turkish: اتوبوس (otobüs) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Uzbek: avtobus — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Vietnamese: ô tô buýt — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Yiddish: ויטאָבוס (oytobus) — bus that is a motor vehicle
  • Chinese Mandarin: (自行車比賽)落後的集團 /(自行车比赛)落后的集团 — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Czech: grupeto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Danish: gruppetto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Dutch: bus — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Dutch: gruppetto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Finnish: gruppetto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • French: autobus — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • French: gruppetto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • German: Gruppetto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Hebrew: גרופטו — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Italian: gruppetto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Japanese: グルペット — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Latvian: autobuss — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gruppetto — large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton