Rebus

Pronunciation

• enPR: rÄ“'bÉ™s, IPA: /ˈriːbÉ™s/
• Rhymes: -iːbÉ™s

Origin

From French rébus, from Latin rebus (ablative plural of res ‘thing’), as taken from the phrase de rebus quae geruntur ‘concerning the things that are taking place’, used in sixteenth-century Picardie as the name for satirical pieces containing picture-riddles.

From the Latin ablative plural form of res "thing" (=rebus ("of or by things")), taken from the phrase "nōn verbīs sed rébus" meaning "not by words but by things".

Noun

1. A kind of word puzzle which uses pictures to represent words or parts of words.
2. (heraldry) A pictorial suggestion on a coat of arms of the name of the person to whom it belongs.

Full definition of rebus

Verb

1. (transitive) To mark or indicate by a rebus.
• FullerHe Morton had a fair library rebused with More in text and Tun under it.

Anagrams

• burse, rubes, suber