Make Your Point > Archived Issues > OMNIBUS
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connect this word to others:
Why do we call a bus a bus?
Bus is an abbreviation of omnibus.
An omnibus is, of course, a vehicle for many passengers, but more literally it's something with many components: something that has "all" things in it. (The omni part means "all," and the bus part is just a grammatical tidbit.)
That's why omnibus looks like omniv__ous, "eating all things," and omnif__ious, "having all kinds of things."
Speaking of everything, see if you can recall these other all-encompassing terms:
1. Something pan_____ affects absolutely everyone in the world.
2. A ___totum is a do-everything: a worker who does all kinds of tasks, or a thing that's useful in very many ways.
3. Something whole-____ed is done with 100% of your devotion or enthusiasm. Did you say "wholehearted"? That's a great one, but think of another. Hint: it rhymes with itself. Almost.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"OMNIBUS"
This word comes from Latin and literally means "for all."
The concrete meaning of "omnibus" in English is "a bus: a vehicle that carries many passengers." You don't hear it too often here in the US: "The omnibus waited at the curb." "The city added ten more omnibuses to its fleet."
More abstractly, an omnibus is something that has many different parts or pieces, especially a book with lots of different pieces of writing in it.
"Omnibus" is an adjective, too, meaning "having many parts or pieces." These days, we most often talk about an omnibus bill or law, meaning it includes many different laws.
Pronunciation:
OM nih bus
Part of speech:
Often a noun, the countable kind: "it's an omnibus," "they publish omnibuses full of short stories."
Also an adjective: "this omnibus bill," "it's a piece of omnibus legislation."
Other common forms:
For the plural noun, just use "omnibuses," unless you're trying to sound silly or pseudo-intellectual, in which case you can use "omnibi."
How to use it:
You can refer to a book as an omnibus, or an omnibus of parts or pieces: "I love almost all of these short stories in this omnibus;" "They've come out with an omnibus of historical British scandals."
And, often, you refer to a bill (or a piece or package of legislation) as an omnibus. "They're set to vote on this omnibus education bill." "It's an omnibus spending package." "They rejected the omnibus bill, then later salvaged the bits they did support."
It's generally just books and legislation that you call omnibuses, but you can refer to anything as an omnibus if the metaphor makes sense: that is, if the thing you're calling an omnibus seems to convey many things at once. The metaphor is pretty cute, I think. You're saying that the book, the legislation, or the whatever is like a nice roomy bus, with the driver calling "All aboard!" as the components hop on, and together they're all conveyed somewhere.
examples:
"The Illustrious Omnibus of Superpowers is just that — a detailed taxonomy of the various superpowers that comic-book writers have dreamed up in 60 or so [years]."
— Cliff Kuang, Fast Company, 14 April 2011
"The reason for all the spending isn’t a sales spurt or newly opened markets. It’s the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, an amendment that quietly found its way into the omnibus tax bill...signed into law in December."
— Robert Simonson, The New York Times, 23 April 2018
has this page helped you understand "omnibus"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "omnibus" without saying "anthology" or "multi-part."
try it out:
You can probably come up with an example of an omnibus bill that was kicked around in the legislature recently or an example of a published omnibus. If you want to, talk about what that omnibus includes, and explain which parts of it, if any, you particularly like or dislike.
Or, chew on this related idea:
In Latin, the phrase "falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus" means, just like you might guess, "false in one thing, false in everything." In other words, someone who lies about one thing will lie about anything and everything.
According to Wikipedia, the doctrine is rather controversial in the legal field. Many people accept it as a truism, using it to discredit witnesses. And many others reject it outright, saying it's worthless, primitive, and too often used as an excuse to demand new trials based on witnesses having made trivial mistakes in their testimony.
How about in your own experience? Do you find that, among the people you know, "falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus" holds true?
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing "What's the Word?"
On Reddit, r/whatstheword is a community of about 55,000 members: folks who gather to help each other out when they can't think of a particular word. "It's on the tip of my tongue," they say. Or, "This word might not even exist. Help!"
In each issue this month, check out a post from the community, and see if you can come up with the word or phrase in question. We'll work our way from relatively easy to extremely hard questions as the month goes on.
From the previous issue: A community member asked, "What's the word for when a rich or pretentious person sort of makes a noise as if they're better than you? Like a smug 'hmm.'"
Answer: Great answers included "harrumph," "tut," "tsk," "sneer," and "snort," but the best was "scoff."
Try this today: A community member asked, "What's the word that means 'tiniest amount'? It's often used like this: 'if you had even a ____ of dignity/ decency.' No, not 'ounce.' It’s a really strange word, not a common one. And the word that pops in my head is 'modum,' but that’s not a real word! The word starts either with a C or an M."
I'll share the answer in the upcoming issue, but if you can't wait, you can view the whole original thread here.
review this word:
1. A near opposite of OMNIBUS, the adjective, is
A. NARROW.
B. STATIONARY.
C. MONOCHROME.
2. In a quaint 1901 text, How to Write a Novel, we find the following advice: "All novelists have their own methods of obtaining raw material for stories. By raw material I mean those facts of life which give birth to narrative ideas. It is said of Thomas Hardy that he never _____ an omnibus without mentally inventing the history of every _____."
A. sits in .. diner
B. rides in .. traveller
C. enters .. customer
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
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Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Why do we call a bus a bus?
"OMNIBUS" This word comes from Latin and literally means "for all."
"The Illustrious Omnibus of Superpowers is just that — a detailed taxonomy of the various superpowers that comic-book writers have dreamed up in 60 or so [years]."
Explain the meaning of "omnibus" without saying "anthology" or "multi-part."
You can probably come up with an example of an omnibus bill that was kicked around in the legislature recently or an example of a published omnibus. If you want to, talk about what that omnibus includes, and explain which parts of it, if any, you particularly like or dislike.
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of OMNIBUS, the adjective, is
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