Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “minibus” come from?

Minibus combines English miniature with English bus, tracing back through Italian miniare and Latin minium, originally denoting red lead pigment used in manuscript illumination.

minibus (English): A small bus, especially one used as transport for...

Definitions

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

Ancestry of “minibus”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbusA motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of...
2EnglishomnibusA vehicle set up to carry many people; An...
3FrenchomnibusPertaining to a local; omnibus, bus
4Latinomnibusdative masculine plural of omnis; dative feminine...
5Latinomnisevery; all
6Proto-Italicopnis—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ep-ni-sworking
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ep-to work, toil, make; ability, force

Words derived from “minibus”

  • midibus
  • 미니버스
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ep- →