Rebus vs. Acrostic — What's the Difference?

A rebus () 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".

An acrostic is a poem (or other form of writing) in which the first letter (or syllable, or word) of each line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The word comes from the French acrostiche from post-classical Latin acrostichis, from Koine Greek ἀκροστιχίς, from Ancient Greek ἄκρος "highest, topmost" and στίχος "verse".

A representation of words in the form of pictures or symbols, often presented as a puzzle.

A poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.

An arrangement of pictures, symbols, and/or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.

A poem or series of lines in which certain letters, usually the first in each line, form a name, motto, or message when read in sequence.

An arrangement of pictures on a coat of arms which suggests the name of the person to whom it belongs.

See word square.

To represent (a phrase or word) as a rebus.

A word puzzle in which the answers to several different clues form an anagram of a quotation, phrase, or other text.

To apply a rebus to (something).

A poem or other text in which certain letters, often the first in each line, spell out a name or message.

A mode of expressing words and phrases by pictures of objects whose names resemble those words, or the syllables of which they are composed; enigmatical representation of words by figures; hence, a peculiar form of riddle made up of such representations.

A poem in Hebrew in which successive lines or verses start with consecutive letters of the alphabet.

A pictorial suggestion on a coat of arms of the name of the person to whom it belongs. See Canting arms, under Canting.

A kind of word puzzle, the solution of which forms an anagram of a quotation, and their initials often form the name of its author.

To mark or indicate by a rebus.

Of or pertaining to acrostics.

A puzzle where you decode a message consisting of pictures representing syllables and words

A composition, usually in verse, in which the first or the last letters of the lines, or certain other letters, taken in order, form a name, word, phrase, or motto.

A Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as Psalm cxix.). See Abecedarian.

Pertaining to, or characterized by, acrostics.

A puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as across

Verse in which certain letters such as the first in each line form a word or message