Where does “rebus” come from?

Rebus comes from French rébus, from Latin rebus, the ablative plural of res meaning "thing," originally used in a form of wordplay representing words through pictures of things.

rebus (English): A kind of word puzzle which uses pictures to...

Definitions

  1. A kind of word puzzle which uses pictures to...

Ancestry of “rebus”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchrébusrebus
2Latinrebusdative plural of rēs; ablative plural of rēs
3Latinrēsthing, object, stuff
4Latinvindicatiocivil lawsuit; protection, defence; vindication;...
5Latinvindicōto lay claim to as one's own (often with sibi)
6Latinvindexclaimant, vindicator
7Latindīcōto say, talk, speak, utter, mention
8Latin-tiōtion, -ation, -ing
9Latindissertātiō(spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition
10Latindissertusarranged, disposed; explained
11Latindissereresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
12Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
13Latincalceusshoe
14Latincalxlimestone; chalk; the finish line
15Ancient Greekχάλιξsmall stone, pebble; gravel, rubble

Words derived from “rebus

Every word from Ancient Greek χάλιξEvery word from Latin -tiōEvery word from Latin dis-