rebus
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: rē'bəs
ipa: /ˈɹiːbəs/
ipa: /ˈɹibəs/
rhymes: -iːbəs
Forms: form: rebuses
form: rebusses
form: rebi
Etymology: From French rébus (“rebus (puzzle); ambiguity; word used in an oblique sense; unintelligible remark”), or directly from its probable etymon Latin rēbus, the ablative plural of rēs (“object, stuff, thing; issue, matter, subject, topic”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“goods; wealth”). The connection between the English word and its Latin etymon is unclear.
further etymology
The following possibilities have been suggested, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary are problematic:
* According to the French scholar Gilles Ménage (1613–1692) in Les origines de la langue françoise (The Origins of the French Language, 1650), it is taken from the phrase de rebus quae geruntur (“concerning the things that are taking place”) which was used in 16th-century Picardy as the name for satirical writings on contemporary subjects containing picture-riddles that were composed for an annual carnival. However, the term rebus de Picardie is first attested later than the word rébus, and so could simply refer to rebuses popular in Picardy at the time.
* Alternatively, it could be from the phrase nōn verbīs sed rēbus meaning “not by words but by things”, but this “encounters difficulties in the chronology of the senses in French”.
Senses: examples: text: I back him at a Rebus or a Charade against the best Rhymer in the Kingdom—has your Ladyship heard the Epigram he wrote last week on Lady Frizzle's Feather catching Fire—
ref: 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.i:
synonyms: rebus puzzle
dingbat
glosses: An arrangement of pictures, symbols, and/or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
hypernyms: phonetic
coordinate_terms: determinative
glosses: A pictographic component of a compound character (e.g. sinograph) used to hint at the pronunciation of the compound.
examples: text: The prior [Will Bolton] used to come out here to hunt in summer and recreate himself, and his rebus—a barrel or tun shot through with a crossbow bolt—is set into the garden walls.
ref: 2020 March 5, Hilary Mantel, “Salvage: London, Summer 1536”, in The Mirror & the Light, London: 4th Estate, →ISBN, page 122:
topics: government
heraldry
hobbies
lifestyle
monarchy
nobility
politics
coordinate_terms: cant
glosses: An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.
examples: text: Instead of spelling out card suits, for example, perhaps the constructor inserted a "rebus," or picture icon for clubs, hearts, spades, or diamonds in one answer box.
ref: 2008 August 5, Michelle Arnot, Four-Letter Words: And Other Secrets of a Crossword Insider, Penguin, →ISBN, page 37:
text: Rebuses are a vital part of cryptic crosswords and even themed standard crossword puzzles, as modernized under the leadership of Will Shortz at The New York Times, make use of rebuses.
ref: 2021 June 2, Jonathan Berkowitz, The Whirl of Words: Puzzling Past and Present, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 89:
text: In the cruciverse, a rebus refers to a crossword that violates the basic "one letter per box" rule, requiring the entry of multiple letters - or even a number or symbol - into a single square
ref: 2023 November 14, David Bukszpan, Crosswordese: The Weird and Wonderful Language of Crossword Puzzles, Chronicle Books, →ISBN, page 34:
qualifier: crosswording
glosses: A type of crossword puzzle in which some squares contain entire words, or symbols representing words, instead of single letters.
Derived terms: rebus principle
Related terms: visual pun