- bus
- 1832, abbreviation of omnibus (q.v.). The English word is simply a Latin dative plural ending. The verb meaning "transport students to integrate schools" is first recorded 1961. Verb meaning "clear tables in a restaurant" is first attested 1913, probably from the four-wheeled cart used to carry dishes. Related: Bused; busing. To miss the bus, in the figurative sense, is from 1915. Busman's holiday "leisure time spent doing what one does for a living" (1893) is probably a reference to London bus drivers riding the buses on their days off.