Standard Lemma guide

minibus

noun · 5 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.

  • US: /ˈmɪ.ni.bəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M IH1 N IY0 B AH2 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small bus, especially one used as transport for small groups.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: jitney

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A sixteen-seater vehicle used as a taxi.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: South-Africa

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: kombi

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A small four-wheeled carriage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A combined spending bill for multiple departments that is smaller than an omnibus bill.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a light bus (4 to 10 passengers)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bus, autobus, coach, charabanc, double-decker, jitney, motorbus, motorcoach, omnibus, passenger vehicle

History

Etymology

From mini- + bus. In the political sense, probably a back-formation from omnibus.

Across languages

Translations

74 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مِيكْرُوبَاص (mīkrūbāṣ) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Arabic: مِينِيبَاص (mīnībāṣ) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Armenian: միկրոավտոբուս (mikroavtobus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Azerbaijani: mikroavtobus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Belarusian: мікрааўто́бус (mikraawtóbus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Belarusian: мікро́бус (mikróbus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Belarusian: мінібу́с (minibús) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Bengali: মিনিবাস (minibaś) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Bulgarian: минибу́с (minibús) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Chichewa: minibási class 9/6 — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Chichewa: gálímoto class 9/6 — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Chinese Cantonese: 小巴 (siu2 baa1) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Chinese Cantonese: 𨋍 (wen1) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Chinese Mandarin: 麵包車 /面包车 (miànbāochē) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Chinese Mandarin: 小巴 (xiǎobā) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Czech: minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Danish: minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Dutch: busje — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Esperanto: buseto — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Estonian: väikebuss — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Estonian: kutsikas — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Finnish: minibussi — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • French: minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Georgian: მიკროავტობუსი (miḳroavṭobusi) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • German: Kleinbus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • German: Minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Hebrew: מִינִיבּוּס (mínibus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Hindi: मिनीबस (minības) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Hindi: छोटी बस (choṭī bas) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Indonesian: bus mini — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Indonesian: minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Italian: minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Japanese: マイクロバス (maikurobasu) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Korean: 승합차 (seunghapcha) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Korean: 미니버스 (minibeoseu) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Korean: 마이크로버스 (maikeurobeoseu) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Northern Kurdish: mînîbus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Latvian: mikroautobuss — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Latvian: minibuss — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Lithuanian: mikroautobusas — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Lithuanian: mikrobusas — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Macedonian: минибус (minibus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Malay: bas mini — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Norman: minibeusse — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Norwegian Bokmål: minibuss — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: minibuss — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Iranian Persian: مینیبوس (mini-bus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Polish: mikrobus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Portuguese: micro-ônibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Romanian: microbuz — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Romanian: maxi-taxi — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Russian: микроавто́бус (mikroavtóbus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Russian: микро́бус (mikróbus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Russian: минибу́с (minibús) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Russian: маршру́тка (maršrútka) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Serbo-Croatian: ми̏нибус — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȉnibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Slovak: mikrobus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Slovak: minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Slovene: minibus — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Spanish: microbús — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Spanish: minibús — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Swahili: minibasi — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Tajik: микроавтобус (mikroavtobus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Tamil: சிற்றுந்து (ciṟṟuntu) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Thai: มินิบัส — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Thai: รถบัสเล็ก — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Turkish: minibüs — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Ukrainian: мікроавто́бус (mikroavtóbus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Ukrainian: мікро́бус (mikróbus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Ukrainian: мінібу́с (minibús) — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Vietnamese: xe buýt mini — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Welsh: bws mini — a small bus — see also marshrutka
  • Yiddish: מיניבוס (minibus) — a small bus — see also marshrutka