rebus

See also: Rebus, rébus, and rebus'

English

WOTD – 11 March 2021

A rebus (sense 1) for the phrase “I understand”, represented by a picture of an eye under the word stand.

The coat of arms of Princess Beatrice, the daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. It bears a label with three bees, that is, “bees thrice”, a rebus (sense 2) alluding to her name.

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”.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: rē'bəs, IPA^(key): /ˈɹiːbəs/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹibəs/
• Rhymes: -iːbəs
• Hyphenation: re‧bus

Noun

Examples (phonetic hint)
銅 (OC *doːŋ) is made of 金 +‎ 同 (*doːŋ); 同 is the rebus. 疏 (OC *sŋra, *sŋras) is rebus 疋 (*ŋraːʔ, *sŋra, *sŋraʔ) +‎ 㐬.

rebus (plural rebuses or (rare) rebusses or (hypercorrect, rare) rebi)

1. An arrangement of pictures, symbols, and/or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.

   Synonyms: rebus puzzle, dingbat

   • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.i:

     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—

2. (linguistics) A pictographic component of a compound character (e.g. sinograph) used to hint at the pronunciation of the compound.

   Hypernym: phonetic

   Coordinate term: determinative

3. (specifically, heraldry) An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.

   Coordinate term: cant

   • 2020 March 5, Hilary Mantel, “Salvage: London, Summer 1536”, in The Mirror & the Light, London: 4th Estate, →ISBN, page 122:

     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.

Derived terms

• rebus principle

Translations

arrangement of pictures, etc., representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle

• Armenian: ռեբուս (hy) (ṙebus), նկարահանելուկ (hy) (nkarahaneluk)
• Belarusian: рэ́бус m (rébus)
• Bulgarian: ре́бус m (rébus)
• Catalan: jeroglífic (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 畫謎／画谜 (zh) (huàmí)

• Czech: rébus (cs) m
• Danish: rebus c
• Dutch: rebus (nl)
• Finnish: kuva-arvoitus (fi)
• French: rébus (fr) m
• German: Rebus (de) m or n, Bilderrätsel (de) n
• Greek: εικονόγριφος m (eikonógrifos)
• Hebrew: רֶבּוּס (he) m (rebus)
• Hungarian: képrejtvény (hu)
• Italian: rebus (it) m
• Japanese: 判じ物 (hanjimono)
• Polish: rebus (pl) m
• Portuguese: rébus m
• Romanian: rebus (ro) n
• Russian: ре́бус (ru) m (rébus)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ре́бус m

  Roman: rébus (sh) m

• Spanish: jeroglífico m
• Swedish: rebus (sv) c
• Ukrainian: ре́бус m (rébus)

arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs

• Finnish: kuvakirjoitus (fi)

See also

• visual pun

Verb

rebus (third-person singular simple present rebuses or rebusses, present participle rebusing or rebussing, simple past and past participle rebused or rebussed) (transitive, obsolete, rare)

1. To represent (a phrase or word) as a rebus.
2. To apply a rebus to (something).
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section IV. To John Ferrars, of Tamworth Castle, Esquire.”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, book IV, subsection 34 (The Death of Archbishop Morton. A.D. 1500.), page 539:

     He [John Morton] was a learned man, and had a fair library, (rebussed with more in text and tun under it,) partly remaining in the possession of the late earl of Arundel.

Further reading

• rebus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Burse, Reubs, Ruebs, Suber, Ubers, buers, bures, burse, erubs, resub, rubes, suber, urbes

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

French rébus, from Latin rebus.

Noun

rebus

1. rebus.

Declension

Declension of rebus

nominative	rebus
genitive	rebusnıñ
dative	rebusqa
accusative	rebusnı
locative	rebusta
ablative	rebustan

References

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Danish

Noun

rebus c (singular definite rebussen, plural indefinite rebusser)

1. rebus (puzzle)

Declension

Declension of rebus

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	rebus	rebussen	rebusser	rebusserne
genitive	rebus'	rebussens	rebussers	rebussernes

Estonian

Noun

rebus

1. inessive singular of rebu

French

Verb

rebus

1. first/second-person singular past historic of reboire

Participle

rebus m pl

1. masculine plural of rebu

Anagrams

• beurs

Indonesian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

rebus

1. boiled

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ.bus/
• Rhymes: -ɛbus
• Hyphenation: rè‧bus

Noun

rebus m (invariable)

1. rebus
2. enigma
3. puzzle
4. conundrum

Related terms

• rebussistico

Latin

Noun

rēbus f

1. dative/ablative plural of rēs (“object, thing, matter”)

References

• rebus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Malay

Adjective

rebus (Jawi spelling ربوس)

1. boiled (food)

Verb

rebus

1. to boil (food)

Further reading

• “rebus” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French rébus. Doublet of raj (“paradise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ.bus/
• Rhymes: -ɛbus
• Syllabification: re‧bus

Noun

rebus m inan (diminutive rebusik)

1. rebus (puzzle)

Declension

Declension of rebus

	singular	plural
nominative	rebus	rebusy
genitive	rebusu	rebusów
dative	rebusowi	rebusom
accusative	rebus	rebusy
instrumental	rebusem	rebusami
locative	rebusie	rebusach
vocative	rebusie	rebusy

Derived terms

adjective

• rebusowy

 

Further reading

• rebus in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “rebus”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French rébus.

Noun

rebus n (plural rebusuri)

1. rebus, crossword

Declension

Declension of rebus

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) rebus	rebusul	(niște) rebusuri	rebusurile
genitive/dative	(unui) rebus	rebusului	(unor) rebusuri	rebusurilor
vocative	rebusule		rebusurilor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rěːbus/
• Hyphenation: re‧bus

Noun

rébus m (Cyrillic spelling ре́бус)

1. rebus

Declension

Declension of rebus

	singular	plural
nominative	rebus	rebusi
genitive	rebusa	rebusa
dative	rebusu	rebusima
accusative	rebus	rebuse
vocative	rebuse	rebusi
locative	rebusu	rebusima
instrumental	rebusom	rebusima

Swedish

Noun

rebus c

1. a rebus; a kind of word puzzle

Declension

Declension of rebus
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	rebus	rebusen	rebusar	rebusarna
Genitive	rebus	rebusens	rebusars	rebusarnas

Synonyms

• bildgåta

Related terms

• rebuslösning

References

• Rebus in Svenska Akademiens ordlista öfver svenska språket (6th ed., 1889)