Word: omnibus Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-der. Proto-Italic *opnis Latin omnis Latin omnibuslbor. French omnibusbor. English omnibus Borrowed from French (voiture) omnibus (“(carriage) for all”), from Latin omnibus (“for all”), dative plural of omnis (“all”). Pronunciation: /ˈɒmnɪbəs/, /ˈɑmnɪbəs/ 1. A bus (vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads). Labels: dated Example: In front of the latter [coach-houses for railway carriages] is a handsome building, intended as offices for the clerks of the Company, coach-offices, and apartments for the reception and accommodation of passengers, who will be conveyed thither in omnibusses from Liverpool, and taking their respective places in the travelling carriages, will be let off down the inclined plane of the little Tunnel, to be hooked to the locomotives in the area, on the other side of the hill. Example: Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. No omnibus, cab, or conveyance ever built could contain a young man in such a rage. His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn. 2. An anthology of previously released material linked together by theme or author, especially in book form. Example: This work is an omnibus containing all books in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series. Example: Orb published an omnibus by Hal Clement, Heavy Planet, containing his novels Mission of Gravity and Star Light, plus other related material, and an omnibus of three of James White's "Sector General" novels, Alien Emergencies, as well as a reissue of A[lfred] E[lton] [v]an Vogt's The World of Null-A. 3. A broadcast programme consisting of all of the episodes of a serial that have been shown in the previous week. Example: The omnibus edition of The Archers is broadcast every Sunday morning at 11:00. Example: In late 1959, well before he was required to adapt his six-part Quatermass and the Pit teleplay into a ninety-seven-minute film script, [Nigel] Kneale supervised the editing of the BBC version into two feature-length episodes for a repeat broadcast. In 1989, he had another go at it, trimming the 207-minute serial into a 178-minute omnibus for release on video cassette, mostly losing comic relief. 4. A stamp issue, usually commemorative, that appears simultaneously in several countries as a joint issue. Example: [M]any of the African nations issuing the World Cup stamps have pandered to international collectors, with some stamps not even sold in the country of issue. These ‘omnibus’ stamps featured topics and individuals with no links to the issuing country. African stamps displaying Disney themes, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and Sylvester Stallone all belong to this category. 5. An assistant waiter. Labels: US, obsolete, slang Example: “Then you divide your army amongst the various houses where restorations are ordered for Jubilee day?” / “Certainly—say one waiter to ten guests—if it was a dinner we should send one waiter to six guests—with runners, of course.” / “Runners?” / “Omnibuses you call them here—young ones—apprentices—who wait on the waiters.” / “Run everywhere, do anything?” / “Omnibuses.” / What a number of omnibuses will be running at that big mansion of Sir Julian Goldsmid’s on Tuesday. M. [Venant] Benoist has undertaken to restore—restore! what an admirable word—a thousand famishing ladies and gentlemen on that day. Example: A waiter is paid $25 a month. He must pay his omnibus himself. The hotel does not pay the omnibuses. By this arrangement it comes about in some hotels that a waiter pays his omnibus more than he himself receives from wages. 6. an omnibus box.