minibus

See also: minibús and -minibus

English

A school minibus

A minibus taxi in South Africa

Etymology

From mini- +‎ bus. In the political sense, probably a back-formation from omnibus.

Noun

minibus (plural minibuses or minibusses)

1. A small bus, especially one used as transport for small groups.
   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 157:

     Just south of Durness, at Keoldale, is a passenger-ferry across the Kyle of Durness. It links up during the summer months with a minibus service to the lonely Cape Wrath lighthouse, built of granite in 1827 on a headland 400 ft above the sea.

2. (South Africa) A sixteen-seater vehicle used as a taxi.

   Synonym: kombi

   • 2006 May 13, Weekend Argus, 14, p.6:

     Police are still searching for the gunmen who hijacked the minibus carrying school pupils taking two of the children with them.

3. (historical) A small four-wheeled carriage.
4. (US politics) A combined spending bill for multiple departments that is smaller than an omnibus bill.
   • 2020 July 25, Danielle Haynes, “House passes 4-bill spending package”, in UPI:

     The minibus is the first of two funding packages the House hopes to pass this month.

Translations

a small bus

• Arabic: مِيكْرُوبَاص m (mīkrūbāṣ), مِينِيبَاص m (mīnībāṣ)
• Armenian: միկրոավտոբուս (mikroavtobus)
• Azerbaijani: mikroavtobus
• Belarusian: мікрааўто́бус m (mikraaŭtóbus), мікро́бус m (mikróbus), мінібу́с m (minibús)
• Bulgarian: минибу́с m (minibús)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 小巴 (siu² baa¹)

  Mandarin: 麵包車／面包车 (zh) (miànbāochē), 小巴 (xiǎobā)

• Czech: minibus m
• Danish: minibus c
• Dutch: busje (nl) n
• Esperanto: buseto
• Estonian: väikebuss, kutsikas (et)
• Finnish: minibussi
• French: minibus (fr) m
• Georgian: მიკროავტობუსი (miḳroavṭobusi)
• German: Kleinbus (de) m, Minibus (de) m
• Hebrew: מִינִיבּוּס (he) (mínibus)
• Indonesian: bus mini
• Japanese: マイクロバス (ja) (maikurobasu)
• Korean: 승합차(乘合車) (seunghapcha), 미니버스 (minibeoseu), 마이크로버스 (maikeurobeoseu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: mînîbus (ku)

• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: mikroautobuss m, minibuss m
• Lithuanian: mikroautobusas m, mikrobusas m
• Macedonian: минибус m (minibus)
• Malay: bas mini
• Norman: minibeusse f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: minibuss m

  Nynorsk: minibuss m

• Persian: مینی‌بوس (fa) (mini-bus)
• Polish: mikrobus (pl) m
• Portuguese: micro-ônibus m (Brazil)
• Romanian: microbuz (ro) n, maxi-taxi (ro) n
• Russian: микроавто́бус (ru) m (mikroavtóbus), микро́бус (ru) m (mikróbus), минибу́с (ru) m (minibús), маршру́тка (ru) f (maršrútka) (marshrutka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ми̏нибус m

  Roman: mȉnibus (sh) m

• Slovak: mikrobus m, minibus m
• Slovene: minibus m
• Spanish: microbús (es) m, minibús (es) m
• Turkish: minibüs (tr)
• Ukrainian: мікроавто́бус m (mikroavtóbus), мікро́бус m (mikróbus), мінібу́с m (minibús)
• Vietnamese: xe buýt mini
• Yiddish: מיניבוס (minibus)

See also

• jitney
• minivan

Anagrams

• minisub

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɪnɪbus]

Noun

minibus m inan

1. minibus

Declension

Declension of minibus (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	minibus	minibusy
genitive	minibusu	minibusů
dative	minibusu	minibusům
accusative	minibus	minibusy
vocative	minibuse	minibusy
locative	minibuse, minibusu	minibusech
instrumental	minibusem	minibusy

Dutch

Etymology

Probably borrowed from English minibus. Equivalent to mini- +‎ bus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.niˌbʏs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mi‧ni‧bus

Noun

minibus m (plural minibussen, diminutive minibusje n)

1. minibus, minivan

French

Etymology

From mini- +‎ bus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.ni.bys/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

minibus m (plural minibus)

1. minibus

Further reading

• “minibus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

From English mini- +‎ bus.

Noun

minibus m (invariable)

1. minibus (small bus)

Polish

minibus

Etymology

From mini- +‎ bus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miˈɲi.bus/
• Rhymes: -ibus
• Syllabification: mi‧ni‧bus

Noun

minibus m animal or m inan

1. minibus (small bus, especially one used as transport for small groups)

Declension

Declension of minibus

	singular	plural
nominative	minibus	minibusy
genitive	minibusa/minibusu	minibusów
dative	minibusowi	minibusom
accusative	minibusa/minibus	minibusy
instrumental	minibusem	minibusami
locative	minibusie	minibusach
vocative	minibusie	minibusy

Further reading

• minibus in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• minibus in Polish dictionaries at PWN