rebus

Syllables: re·bus/ˈɹiːbəs/US/ˈɹibəs/

rebus noun: an arrangement of pictures, symbols, or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.

Noun

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

An arrangement of pictures, symbols, or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.
- 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—1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.i
Synonyms:

rebus puzzle, dingbat
A pictographic component of a compound character (e.g. sinograph) used to hint at the pronunciation of the compound.
(specifically) An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.
- 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.2020 March 5, Hilary Mantel, “Salvage: London, Summer 1536”, in The Mirror & the Light, London: 4th Estate, →ISBN, page 122
(crosswording) A type of crossword puzzle in which some squares contain entire words, or symbols representing words, instead of single letters.
- 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.2008 August 5, Michelle Arnot, Four-Letter Words: And Other Secrets of a Crossword Insider, Penguin, →ISBN, page 37
- 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.2021 June 2, Jonathan Berkowitz, The Whirl of Words: Puzzling Past and Present, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 89

Verb

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

(obsolete, rare, transitive) To represent (a phrase or word) as a rebus.
(obsolete, rare, transitive) To apply a rebus to (something).
- 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.1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section IV. To John Ferrars, of Tamworth Castle, Esquire.”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI)...

rebus meaning in Urdu

rebus in Urdu

تصویری معمہ

Synonyms of rebus

rebus puzzle
dingbat

Forms of rebus

Noun
plural	rebuses
plural (rare)	rebusses
plural hypercorrect (rare)	rebi
Verb
third-person singular present	rebuses
third-person singular present	rebusses
present participle	rebusing
present participle	rebussing
past participle	rebused
past	rebused
past participle	rebussed
past	rebussed

Plural of rebus: rebuses

Origin of rebus

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...

Words formed from rebus

Phrases with rebus

Words that rhyme with rebus

Jeebus

Questions about rebus

What does rebus mean?: Rebus means an arrangement of pictures, symbols, or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.
What is rebus in Urdu?: Rebus in Urdu is تصویری معمہ. See Rebus meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is rebus?: Rebus can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce rebus?: Rebus is pronounced /ˈɹiːbəs/ (UK).
What is the plural of rebus?: The plural of rebus is rebuses.

Words near rebus in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: rebus (page history and authors); rebus (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-rebus.wav.

Cite this entry: “rebus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rebus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.