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:[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”.
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) |
|---|
rebus (plural rebuses or (rare) rebusses or (hypercorrect, rare) rebi)
- An arrangement of pictures, symbols, and/or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.
- 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—
- (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
- (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
Translations
arrangement of pictures, etc., representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle
|
arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs
|
See also
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)
- To represent (a phrase or word) as a rebus.
- 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.
References
- “rebus, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2020; “rebus, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. - Gilles Ménage (1650) Les origines de la langue françoise [The Origins of the French Language], Paris: Chez Augustin Courbé, →OCLC.
Crimean Tatar
Declension
Declension of rebus
| nominative | rebus |
|---|---|
| genitive | rebusnıñ |
| dative | rebusqa |
| accusative | rebusnı |
| locative | rebusta |
| ablative | rebustan |
Danish
Declension
Declension of rebus
| common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | rebus | rebussen | rebusser | rebusserne |
| genitive | rebus' | rebussens | rebussers | rebussernes |
French
Anagrams
Indonesian
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈrɛ.bus/
- Rhymes: -ɛbus
- Hyphenation: rè‧bus
Related terms
Latin
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
Further reading
- “rebus” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈrɛ.bus/
- Rhymes: -ɛbus
- Syllabification: re‧bus
Declension
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
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /rěːbus/
- Hyphenation: re‧bus
Swedish
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)
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