Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

autobus

/ˈɔtoʊˌbʌs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.65 in modern English

Syllables
au-to-bus
IPA
/ˈɔtoʊˌbʌs/
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A motorbus, as opposed to earlier horse-drawn buses.

Dated

noun

A large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton (“main group of riders”) in a race.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew Proto-Indo-European *tó- Proto-Hellenic *autós Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewder. Ancient Greek αὖ (aû) Ancient Greek τόν (tón) Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)lbor. French auto- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin mōbilislbor. French mobile French automobilebor. English automobileclip. English auto- English bus English autobus From auto- (prefix meaning ‘self’, in the sense of being self-propelled) + bus. Sense 2 (“large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton”) is borrowed from French autobus.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɔtoʊˌbʌs/
  • British English: /ˈɔːtə(ʊ)bʌs/

Usage

Inflected Forms

autobuses (plural) autobusses (plural)

Synonyms

groupetto gruppetto laughing group bus coach charabanc double-decker jitney motorbus motorcoach omnibus passenger vehicle

Questions

How do you pronounce autobus?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɔtoʊˌbʌs/.
What does autobus mean?
A motorbus, as opposed to earlier horse-drawn buses.
Where does autobus come from?
It is traced to French.

How to pronounce autobus

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “autobus”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɔtoʊˌbʌs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “autobus”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “autobus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.