The writing of correspondence in rebus form became popular in the eighteenth century and continued into the nineteenth century. In Mesopotamia, the principle was first employed on Proto-Cuneiform tablets, beginning in the Jemdet Nasr period (c. Fully developed hieroglyphs read in rebus fashion were in use at Abydos in Egypt as early as 3400 BCE. A precursor to the development of the alphabet, this process represents one of the most important developments of writing. The term rebus also refers to the use of a pictogram to represent a syllabic sound. Rebuses are sometimes used in crossword puzzles, with multiple letters or a symbol fitting into a single square. This concept is sometimes extended to include numbers (as in "Q8" for " Kuwait", or "8" for "ate"). Modern rebuses, word plays A rebus puzzle representing top secretĪ modern example of the rebus used as a form of word play is:īy extension, it also uses the positioning of words or parts of words in relation to each other to convey a hidden meaning, for example:Ī rebus made up solely of letters (such as "CU" for "See you") is known as a gramogram, grammagram, or letteral word. The arms of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon feature bows and lions. Ignatius Loyola contains wolves (in Spanish, lobo) and a kettle ( olla), said by some (probably incorrectly) to be a rebus for "Loyola". ![]() This word sequence "conger-leo-tun" enunciates the town's name. ![]() 1541) bore as arms: Ermine, on a chief azure five bezants, whilst his rebus, displayed many times in terracotta plaques on the walls of his mansion Sutton Place, Surrey, was a "tun" or barrel, used to designate the last syllable of his surname.Īn example of canting arms proper are those of the Borough of Congleton in Cheshire consisting of a conger eel, a lion (in Latin, leo) and a tun (barrel). A man might have a rebus as a personal identification device entirely separate from his armorials, canting or otherwise. Rebuses are used extensively as a form of heraldic expression as a hint to the name of the bearer they are not synonymous with canting arms. 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" ( res, rei (f), a thing, object, matter rebus being ablative plural). 1472) of Norwich, consisting of a stag (or hart) lying down in a conventional representation of water. A more sophisticated example was the rebus of Bishop Walter Lyhart (d. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames.įor example, in its basic form, three salmon (fish) are used to denote the surname " Salmon". For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) and the letter "n".
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