Editing Rebus (section)

{{Short description|Allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words}}
{{Other uses}}
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[[File:Rebus escort card.jpg|thumb|A rebus-style "escort card" from around 1865, to be read as "May I see you home my dear?"]]
[[File:Arolsen Klebeband 18 041 3.JPG|thumb|A German rebus, circa 1620]]

A '''rebus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|iː|b|ə|s}} {{respell|REE|bəss}}) is a [[puzzle]] device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) and the letter "n".

It was a favourite form of [[Heraldry|heraldic]] expression used in the [[Middle Ages]] to denote surnames. For example, in its basic form, three [[salmon]] (fish) are used to denote the surname "[[Salmon (surname)|Salmon]]". A more sophisticated example was the rebus of Bishop [[Walter Hart|Walter Lyhart]] (d. 1472) of Norwich, consisting of a [[stag]] (or [[Deer|hart]]) lying down in a conventional representation of water. The composition alludes to the name, profession or personal characteristics of the bearer, and speaks to the beholder ''Non verbis, sed rebus'', which [[Latin]] expression signifies "not by words but by things"<ref>Boutell, Charles, ''Heraldry Historical & Popular'', London, 1863, pp. 117–120</ref> (''res, rei'' (f), a thing, object, matter; ''rebus'' being [[ablative]] plural).<ref>''Cassell's Latin Dictionary'', ed. Marchant & Charles</ref>