omnibus

American  

[om-nuh-buhs, -buhs] / ˈɒm nəˌbʌs, -bəs /

noun

omnibuses, plural omnibusses plural

1. bus.

2. a volume of reprinted works of a single author or of works related in interest or theme.

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adjective

1. pertaining to, including, or dealing with numerous objects or items at once.

   an omnibus bill submitted to a legislature.

omnibus British  

/ -bəs, ˈɒmnɪˌbʌs /

noun

1. a less common word for bus

2. Also called: omnibus volume.  a collection of works by one author or several works on a similar topic, reprinted in one volume

3. Also called: omnibus edition.  a television or radio programme consisting of two or more programmes broadcast earlier in the week

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adjective

1. (prenominal) of, dealing with, or providing for many different things or cases

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• omnibuses
  plural
• omnibusses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of omnibus

1820–30; < French < Latin: for all (dative plural of omnis )

Explanation

An omnibus is another word for a bus, as in a large vehicle carrying lots of passengers. Other names are autobus and coach. This word has bus in it, and that's the main meaning of omnibus. As a book, an omnibus is collection of articles either all on the same subject or written by a single author. An omnibus of Joyce Carol Oates would fill more shelves than all of Shakespeare’s plays. A third meaning is something that covers a lot of different subjects at once, like an omnibus bill that has legislation about gun control, transportation, and parking meters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

omnibus omnibuses omnibusses

The ESAs were part of an omnibus bill that included provisions to raise teacher pay and extend the state’s literacy reforms to other grades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

The trading records inside the omnibus accounts contain no information about the individuals making the trades.

From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025

Wednesday just happened to be the deadline a judge set for lawyers to file an omnibus complaint on behalf of 10,000 residents and business owners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025

The act is the only provision of the omnibus package that the court struck down.

From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2025

Once the omnibus was out of sight and we could no longer hear the horse’s hooves, she handed me something heavy and cold.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

The solution most cities settled on was horse-drawn streetcars and omnibuses.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

The clean, quiet electrobus looked set to be stiff competition for the city's lumbering, petrol-guzzling omnibuses.

From Nature ● Sep. 26, 2017

In that pre-automobile era, horses were public animals, seen daily by urbanites as they pulled milk wagons and omnibuses.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 1, 2017

Anthologies, omnibuses, whatever you want to call them: Those cinematic conglomerations of disconnected or slightly interwoven stories are what I’m talking about.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 23, 2015

Cabs, and trams, and omnibuses crowded with passengers are the conspicuous objects that are to be met with in any moderate-sized towns in the homeland.

From Sidelights on Chinese Life by Macgowan, J. (John)

You were just stepping into one of those very omnibusses you have since seen fit to decry.

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 4 October 1848 by Various

The means of transportation now at the command of the people are the street railways and the omnibusses, or stages; as they are called.

From The Secrets of the Great City by McCabe, James Dabney

Near Liverpool it is cut very deeply through rock, and there is a long tunnel which leads into a yard where omnibusses wait to convey passengers to the inns. 

From Railway Adventures and Anecdotes extending over more than fifty years by Various

I only want to be quiet in Venice, where there are no carts or omnibusses.

From The End of a Coil by Warner, Susan

The streets resounded with the rattling wheels of omnibusses, cabs and various vehicles, as they bore the gay and fashionable part of the village to the splendid hall.

From Withered Leaves from Memory's Garland by Hanna, Abigail Stanley