*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology 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, s

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

To represent (a phrase or word) as a rebus. · To apply a rebus to (something).

noun

An arrangement of pictures, symbols, or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle. · A pictographic component of a compound character (e.g. sinograph) used to hint at the pronunciation of the compound. · An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs. · A type of crossword puzzle in which some squares contain entire words, or symbols representing words, instead of single letters.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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 difficulties in the chronology of the senses in French”.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Derivation mentionrébusfr · rebus (puzzle); ambiguity; word used in an oblique sense; unintelligible remark
  • Derivation mentionrēbusla
  • Derivation mention*reh₁ísine-pro · goods; wealth
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "rébus",
        "t": "rebus (puzzle); ambiguity; word used in an oblique sense; unintelligible remark"
      },
      "expansion": "French rébus (“rebus (puzzle); ambiguity; word used in an oblique sense; unintelligible remark”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "etymon"
      },
      "expansion": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "rēbus"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin rēbus"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "ablative"
      },
      "expansion": "ablative"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "plural"
      },
      "expansion": "plural"
    },
    {
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      "args": {
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*reh₁ís",
        "t": "goods; wealth"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“goods; wealth”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "further etymology"
      },
      "expansion": "further etymology"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "rébus",
      "rébus#French"
    ],
    [
      "rēbus",
      "rebus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "rēs",
      "res#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*reh₁ís",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/reh₁ís"
    ],
    [
      "de",
      "de"
    ],
    [
      "rebus",
      "rebus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "quae",
      "quae"
    ],
    [
      "geruntur",
      "geruntur"
    ],
    [
      "Picardy",
      "Picardy"
    ],
    [
      "nōn",
      "non#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "verbīs",
      "verbum#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "sed",
      "sed#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "rēbus",
      "res#Latin"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
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        "To apply a rebus to (something)."
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      "pos": "noun",
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        "An arrangement of pictures, symbols, or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.",
        "A pictographic component of a compound character (e.g. sinograph) used to hint at the pronunciation of the compound.",
        "An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.",
        "A type of crossword puzzle in which some squares contain entire words, or symbols representing words, instead of single letters."
      ],
      "tags": [
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    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for rebus →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cmVidXM