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# rebus

noun (a rebus, rebuses)

«rebus» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A puzzle in which pictures, letters, numbers or symbols stand for words or parts of words: a picture of an eye + a heart + a ewe = «I love you». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#m1)
2. A coat of arms or design whose picture is a pun on a family's name. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#m2)

### In the lessons

Rebuses are popular word puzzles in school and in puzzle books; they train thinking about sounds. «2 B or not 2 B». Lewis Carroll and Kipling loved word games; rebuses are a cousin of their puns. In history, early writing used rebus ideas: a picture for a sound helped turn pictures into letters.

### Examples

- Can you solve this rebus: a picture of a bee and a leaf means «belief»? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#x1)
- We made our own rebus puzzles in class. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#x2)
- «I C U» is a simple rebus. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#x3)
- The family's coat of arms was a rebus on their name. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#x4)
- Early writing used the rebus idea to spell sounds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#x5)
- The rebus puzzle had a picture of a sun and a flower: sunflower. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/#x6)

### Note

Plural: rebuses. Said «REE-bus». From Latin «rebus», «by things».

## In Jewish tradition

Rebuses are popular word puzzles in school and in puzzle books; they train thinking about sounds. «2 B or not 2 B». Lewis Carroll and Kipling loved word games; rebuses are a cousin of their puns. In history, early writing used rebus ideas: a picture for a sound helped turn pictures into letters.

### Examples

- Hinc jam rebus Israel inclinatis ne deficeret per sapientes Hierusalem arcanis et (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/R/rebus/#x1)
- Hinc jam rebus Israel inclinatis ne deficeret per sapientes Hierusalem arcanis et \[p. 12\] profundissimis sensibus literis commendatus." Johannes Pistorius. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/R/rebus/#x2)

### Note

Plural: rebuses. Said «REE-bus». From Latin «rebus», «by things».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «rebus» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rebus/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«rebus» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/rebus.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «rebus» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/R/rebus/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«rebus» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/rebus.html) on Mova free.