in Music, an artificial motion with the hands, imitating in cadence and harmony the buzzing of bees. The word is originally Greek, and signifies the buzz or noise of bees, gnats, and the like. In this sense, bombus made one of the species of applause used by the ancient auditories.

Medicine, denotes a murmuring noise, as of wind breaking out of a narrow into a larger cavity, frequently heard in the thick intestines. The bombus heard in the ears in acute diseases, is laid down by Hippocrates as a sign of death.