Rebus - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

re·bus

Audio Help [ree-buh

s] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -bus·es.

1.	a representation of a word or phrase by pictures, symbols, etc., that suggest that word or phrase or its syllables: Two gates and a head is a rebus for Gateshead.

2.	a piece of writing containing many such representations.

[Origin: 1595–1605; < L rébus by things (abl. pl. of rés), in phrase nōn verbīs sed rébus not by words but by things

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Rebus

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

re·bus Audio Help (rē'bəs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. re·bus·es
A representation of words in the form of pictures or symbols, often presented as a puzzle.

[From Latin rēbus, ablative pl. of rēs, thing; see rē- in Indo-European roots.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rebus

1605, from L. rebus "by means of objects," ablative plural of res "thing, object," perhaps principally from the phrase de rebus quæ geruntur "of things which are going on," in reference to the satirical pieces composed by Picardy clerks at carnivals, subtle satires of current events using pictures to suggest words, phrases or things. Or it may be from the representations being non verbis sed rebus "not by words, but by things."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

rebus
noun
a puzzle where you decode a message consisting of pictures representing syllables and words

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Rebus

Re"al\, a. [LL. realis, fr. L. res, rei, a thing: cf. F. r['e]el. Cf. Rebus.]

1. Actually being or existing; not fictitious or imaginary; as, a description of real life.

Whereat I waked, and found Before mine eyes all real, as the dream Had lively shadowed. --Milton.

2. True; genuine; not artificial; counterfeit, or factitious; often opposed to ostensible; as, the real reason; real Madeira wine; real ginger.

Whose perfection far excelled Hers in all real dignity. --Milton.

5. Relating to things, not to persons. [Obs.]

Many are perfect in men's humors that are not greatly capable of the real part of business. --Bacon.

4. (Alg.) Having an assignable arithmetical or numerical value or meaning; not imaginary.

5. (Law) Pertaining to things fixed, permanent, or immovable, as to lands and tenements; as, real property, in distinction from personal or movable property.

Chattels real (Law), such chattels as are annexed to, or savor of, the realty, as terms for years of land. See Chattel.

Real action (Law), an action for the recovery of real property.

Real assets (Law), lands or real estate in the hands of the heir, chargeable with the debts of the ancestor.

Real composition (Eccl. Law), an agreement made between the owner of lands and the parson or vicar, with consent of the ordinary, that such lands shall be discharged from payment of tithes, in consequence of other land or recompense given to the parson in lieu and satisfaction thereof. --Blackstone.

Real estate or property, lands, tenements, and hereditaments; freehold interests in landed property; property in houses and land. --Kent. --Burrill.

Real presence (R. C. Ch.), the actual presence of the body and blood of Christ in the eucharist, or the conversion of the substance of the bread and wine into the real body and blood of Christ; transubstantiation. In other churches there is a belief in a form of real presence, not however in the sense of transubstantiation.

Real servitude, called also Predial servitude (Civil Law), a burden imposed upon one estate in favor of another estate of another proprietor. --Erskine. --Bouvier.

Syn: Actual; true; genuine; authentic.

Usage: Real, Actual. Real represents a thing to be a substantive existence; as, a real, not imaginary, occurrence. Actual refers to it as acted or performed; and, hence, when we wish to prove a thing real, we often say, "It actually exists," "It has actually been done." Thus its really is shown by its actually. Actual, from this reference to being acted, has recently received a new signification, namely, present; as, the actual posture of affairs; since what is now in action, or going on, has, of course, a present existence. An actual fact; a real sentiment.

For he that but conceives a crime in thought, Contracts the danger of an actual fault. --Dryden.

Our simple ideas are all real; all agree to the reality of things. --Locke.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Rebus

Re"bus\, n.; pl. Rebuses. [L. rebus by things, abl. pl. of res a thing: cf. F. r['e]bus. Cf. 3d things, abl. pl. of res a thing: cf. F. r['e]bus. Cf. 3d Real.]

1. A mode of expressing words and phrases by pictures of objects whose names resemble those words, or the syllables of which they are composed; enigmatical representation of words by figures; hence, a peculiar form of riddle made up of such representations.

Note: A gallant, in love with a woman named Rose Hill, had, embroidered on his gown, a rose, a hill, an eye, a loaf, and a well, signifying, Rose Hill I love well.

2. (Her.) A pictorial suggestion on a coat of arms of the name of the person to whom it belongs. See Canting arms, under Canting.

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REBUS

REBUS: in Acronym Finder

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