ſ

See also: [U+2320 TOP HALF INTEGRAL], [U+222B INTEGRAL], ʃ [U+0283 LATIN SMALL LETTER ESH], [U+1E9B LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S WITH DOT ABOVE], [U+A785 LATIN SMALL LETTER INSULAR S], and Variations of "s"

ſ - Translingual

Letter

ſ (upper case S)

  1. (obsolete or archaic) The long s, a form of the letter ess (S).

Derived terms

  • , ß
  • (ſt)
  • (Archaic) Scots S

ſ - English

Letter

ſ (lower case, upper case S, plural ſs or ſ's)

  1. (archaic) The nineteenth letter of the English alphabet, called long s, medial s, or descending s and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • This is the long, medial, or descending s, as distinct from the short or terminal s (s).
  • In Roman and Fraktur script, the long S was typically used everywhere except at the end of words, where the short S was used. This distinction was sometimes maintained in derivative or compound words, as for example hisſelf (his + (-)ſelf), ſucceſsful (ſucceſs + -ful), princeſsſhip (see the 1767 quotation).
  • Some documents wrote or typeset ss as ſs, e.g. in neceſsary, either as a deviation from all nonfinal s being ſ, or as a deviation from all s being s (as in the US Declaration of Independence: "When in the Course of human events, it becomes neceſsary for one people to diſsolve...", or US Constitution: "the first Claſs shall...").
  • This distinction occurred only in minuscule (lowercase); the single majuscule (uppercase) form S was used regardless of word-position.
  • Sometimes “st” was used instead of “ſt”.

ſ - Middle French

Letter

ſ

  1. typographical variant of s, typically used for all instances except a final -s
Meaning and Definition of ſ
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