rebus
/ˈɹibəs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.53 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An arrangement of pictures, symbols, or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.
noun
A pictographic component of a compound character (e.g. sinograph) used to hint at the pronunciation of the compound.
noun
An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.
noun
A type of crossword puzzle in which some squares contain entire words, or symbols representing words, instead of single letters.
Example Sentences
- "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—"
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
- "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"
- "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."
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”.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹibəs/
- British English: /ˈɹiːbəs/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
rebus puzzle
dingbat