Buss

//bʌs// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    A kiss. archaic

    "Here he gave Jones a hearty buss, shook him by the hand, and took his leave."

  2. 2
    A herring buss, a type of shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat used especially for herring fishing.

    "the Dutch whalers and herring busses"

  3. 3
    Archaic form of bus (“passenger vehicle”). alt-of, archaic

    "1838, Charles Dickens, "Omnibuses", Sketches by Boz We will back the machine in which we make our daily peregrination from the top of Oxford-street to the city, against any buss on the road, whether it be for the gaudiness of its exterior, the perfect simplicity of its interior, or the native coolness of its cad."

  4. 4
    Alternative form of bussing (“enjoyable, delicious”) alt-of, alternative, slang
  5. 5
    the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof) wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To kiss (either literally or figuratively). dialectal, often, poetic, transitive

    "I will thinke thou smil'st, And busse thee as thy wife."

  2. 2
    touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc. wordnet
  3. 3
    To kiss. intransitive

    "In the faint glow of a single blue bulb hanging from a clothesline they bussed and fondled."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

From Dutch buis.

Etymology 4

Clipping of bussing.

Etymology 5

* Occupational surname for a cooper, from Old French busse (“cask, barrel”). * Cognominal surname for someone rotund, like a barrel. * Toponymic surname for someone living or working near a bush or thicket of bushes, from Middle English bush. * Patronymic surname derived from a hypocoristic form of personal names beginning with Burg, such as Burghardt.

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