buss
/bʌs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.83 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A herring buss, a type of shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat used especially for herring fishing.
Example Sentences
- "Here he gave Jones a hearty buss, shook him by the hand, and took his leave."
- "I will thinke thou smil'st, And busse thee as thy wife."
- "'I take the privilege, Mistress Ruth, of saluting you.' ...And therewith I bussed her well."
- "As the repatriated explorer dodges down to buss the earth […] he is so thoroughly caught up in the rhapsody of the moment that he fails to take into account the traffic behind him."
- "Sam...really was six-ten and his head bussed the ceiling."
- "In the faint glow of a single blue bulb hanging from a clothesline they bussed and fondled."
Etymology
Uncertain. First attested in the 1560s. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰus- (“lip, to kiss”) via Proto-Germanic *busaną (compare German bussen), but in any case imitative of kissing. Compare Welsh bus (“kiss, lip”) and Irish bus (“lips, mouth”) (both may have influenced English), Persian بوس (bus, “kiss”), Latvian buča (“kiss”), Latin basium (“kiss”). Mainstream proposals like in The Free Dictionary have suggested it is a blend of old English dialect words bass (related to French baiser) and cuss (akin to kissen); perhaps compare puss.
Origin
- Source language: Proto-Indo-European
- First known use: First attested in the 1560s