Wiktionary

rebus

See also: Rebus, rébus, and rebus'

EnglishEdit

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.

EtymologyEdit

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:[1]

  • According to the French scholar Gilles Ménage (1613–1692) in Les origines de la langue françoise (The Origins of the French Language, 1650),[2] 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”.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

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

TranslationsEdit

See alsoEdit

VerbEdit

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 James Nichols, editor, The Church History of Britain, […], volume I, new edition, London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, OCLC 913056315, 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.

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ “rebus, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2020; “rebus, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ Gilles Ménage (1650) Les origines de la langue françoise [The Origins of the French Language], Paris: Chez Augustin Courbé, OCLC 723687311.

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

Crimean TatarEdit

EtymologyEdit

French rébus, from Latin rebus.

NounEdit

rebus

  1. rebus.

DeclensionEdit

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

ReferencesEdit

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

DanishEdit

NounEdit

rebus c (singular definite rebussen, plural indefinite rebusser)

  1. rebus (puzzle)

DeclensionEdit

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

EstonianEdit

NounEdit

rebus

  1. inessive singular of rebu

FrenchEdit

VerbEdit

rebus

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

ParticipleEdit

rebus m pl

  1. masculine plural of the past participle of reboire

AnagramsEdit

IndonesianEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

  This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

AdjectiveEdit

rebus

  1. boiled

ItalianEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

rebus m (invariable)

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

Related termsEdit

LatinEdit

NounEdit

rēbus f

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

ReferencesEdit

MalayEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rebus (Jawi spelling ربوس‎)

  1. boiled (food)

VerbEdit

rebus

  1. to boil (food)

Further readingEdit

PolishEdit

 
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

EtymologyEdit

From French rébus, from Latin rebus.

PronunciationEdit

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

NounEdit

rebus m inan

  1. rebus

DeclensionEdit

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 termsEdit

adjective

Further readingEdit

  • rebus in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • rebus in Polish dictionaries at PWN

RomanianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From French rébus.

NounEdit

rebus n (plural rebusuri)

  1. rebus, crossword

DeclensionEdit

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-CroatianEdit

PronunciationEdit

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

NounEdit

rébus m (Cyrillic spelling ре́бус)

  1. rebus

DeclensionEdit

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

SwedishEdit

NounEdit

rebus c

  1. a rebus; a kind of word puzzle

DeclensionEdit

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

SynonymsEdit

Related termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

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