rebus

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 →
2. A coat of arms or design whose picture is a pun on a family's name. tree →

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 →
• We made our own rebus puzzles in class. tree →
• «I C U» is a simple rebus. tree →
• The family's coat of arms was a rebus on their name. tree →
• Early writing used the rebus idea to spell sounds. tree →
• The rebus puzzle had a picture of a sun and a flower: sunflower. tree →

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 →
• 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 →

Note

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