S

See also: s [U+0073 LATIN SMALL LETTER S], 's, -s, ѕ [U+0455 CYRILLIC SMALL LETTER DZE], Ѕ [U+0405 CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER DZE], Տ [U+054F ARMENIAN CAPITAL LETTER TIWN], Ꮪ [U+13DA CHEROKEE LETTER DU], and Appendix:Variations of "s"

S	U+0053, S LATIN CAPITAL LETTER S

← R
[U+0052]

Basic Latin

T →
[U+0054]

Ｓ	U+FF33, Ｓ FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER S

← Ｒ
[U+FF32]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

Ｔ →
[U+FF34]

Translingual

Etymology

From the Etruscan letter 𐌔 (s, “es”), from the Ancient Greek letter Σ (S, “sigma”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤔‎ (š, “šin”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓌓.

Letter

S (lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Symbol

S

(chemistry) symbol for sulfur / sulphur
(metrology) symbol for siemens, a measure of electrical conductance.
(metrology) symbol for spat (obsolete astronomical unit of distance).
(metrology) symbol for svedberg (unit of sedimentation rate in ultracentrifugation).
(biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for serine
(geology) symbol for storativity
(mathematics, topology) sphere
(mathematics, computer science) The S ("substitution") combinator, defined as Sxyz = xz(yz), used in SKI calculus
(linguistics) A wildcard for a sibilant; or sometimes ambiguously for a stop, fricative, sonorant or semivowel
(usually clothing) small (the manufactured size)

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of S, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase S in Fraktur

English

Pronunciation

(letter) IPA^(key): /ɛs/
- Rhymes: -ɛs
Audio (US) (file)
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /s/, /z/, /ʒ/

Letter

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

The nineteenth letter of the English alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

S-curve
S-turn
split S

Number

S (upper case, lower case s)

The ordinal number nineteenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

S

(stenoscript) the sound sequence /st/ in a word, e.g. it's the transcription of the suffix -ist.
(stenoscript) the prefix sub-
[some manuals advise lower-case s for the prefix sub-]
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of south.

Noun

S

Initialism of south.
Initialism of season (group of episodes of a series).
I watched S01 through 03. I have yet to watch the S04.
The pilot episode is S01E01.
(usually clothing, singular only) Initialism of small (the manufactured size or an item of that size).
(music) Initialism of soprano..
(American Library Association) Initialism of sextodecimo (book size, 15-17.5 cm in height).

Translations

south — See also translations at south

Swedish: S (sv)

abbreviation of season

Swedish: S (sv)

Adjective

S (not comparable)

(usually clothing) Initialism of small (of the manufactured size).

Etymology 3

From the first letter of set and of stage, two fundamental concepts of the theory.

Proper noun

S

(set theory) An axiomatic set theory, developed by logician George Boolos, in which several of the axioms of ZF are derivable as theorems.
S has no axiom of extensionality and identity is absent from the other S axioms.

Afar

Letter

S

The forth letter in the Afar alphabet.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛs/

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

S (plural S's, diminutive S'ie)

S

Azerbaijani

Letter

S upper case (lower case s)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /es̺e/, [e̞.s̺e̞]

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twentieth letter of the Basque alphabet, called ese and written in the Latin script.

Central Franconian

Etymology

/z/, /ʃ/ are from West Germanic *s.
For the origin of /s/, see ß.

Pronunciation

(German-based) /z/, (coda or doubled) /s/, (in initial sp, st) /ʃ/
(Dutch-based) /s/

Letter

S

A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

In the German-based spelling, /s/ after long vowels and diphthongs is represented by ß (see there).
In the Dutch-based spelling, /z/ is represented by z (see there). /ʃ/ is represented by sj.

Doubling of S

In the German-based spelling, s [s] is doubled after short vowels except in certain function words and when the letter is followed by another consonant within the word stem. However, s for [z] may be doubled or not.
In the Dutch-based spelling, s is doubled after short vowels if the syllable were otherwise open.

Chinese

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): áisi
(Zhuyin): ㄞˊ ˙ㄙ
Cantonese (Jyutping): e¹ si⁴
Min Nan (Teochew, Peng'im): êh⁸ se⁷
Wu (Wiktionary): eq (T4) + sr (T2)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: áisi
  - Zhuyin: ㄞˊ ˙ㄙ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: áisi̊h
  - Wade–Giles: ai²-ssŭ⁵
  - Yale: ái-sz
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: air.sy
  - Palladius: айсы (ajsy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀaɪ̯³⁵ sz̩³/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: e¹ si⁴
  - Yale: ē sìh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: e¹ si⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: é¹ xi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛː⁵⁵ siː²¹/
Min Nan
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: êh⁸ se⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: e̍h sṳ̄
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /eʔ⁴⁻² sɯ¹¹/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: eq (T4) + sr (T2)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /əʔ⁵⁵ sz̩³⁴/

Note: Often realised as 4eq&3sr or just 1es.

Letter

S

The nineteenth letter of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sī, (si¹, ⁵)
(Zhuyin): ㄙ,

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, common)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sī
  - Zhuyin: ㄙ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sih
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ¹
  - Yale: sz̄
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sy
  - Palladius: сы (sy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵⁵/

Letter

S

The nineteenth letter used in Pinyin.

Usage notes

《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).
The official pronunciation defined in 《汉语拼音方案》, ㄝㄙ (ê̄s), is not a valid syllable in Pinyin.

Dutch

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛs/
Audio (file)

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /so/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /s/
Audio (file)

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-second letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called so and written in the Latin script.

Noun

S

Abbreviation of sudo (“south”).

Pronoun

S

(text messaging) Abbreviation of ŝi (“she”).

Alternative forms

(she): Ŝ

Estonian

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.

Finnish

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called äs or es and written in the Latin script.

French

Pronunciation

(letter) IPA^(key): /ɛs/
Audio (Paris) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛs

Noun

S

Abbreviation of sud; south

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Galician

Noun

S

Abbreviation of sur (“south”).

Antonyms

(south): N

German

Etymology

For the origin of the letter, see s.

Orthography and pronunciation

Single s in prevocalic position is pronounced /z/, except when it follows an obstruent within the word stem (e.g. Achse, bugsieren, Lotse, schubsen). /s/ is usually retained in recent borrowings from English (e.g. Sex), to a lesser degree also in recent borrowings from other languages (e.g. Salsa). Words from the classical languages and pre-1900 loanwords behave like native words.

Stem-initial st and sp are pronounced /ʃt/ and /ʃp/ in native words. The same is generally true for classical and pre-1900 loanwords, though in this case we find some exceptions which are at least optionally pronounced with /st/, /sp/ (e.g. Stil, Stola). Recent borrowings tend to retain the original sounds. Again, this tendency is stronger with English than with other source languages (cf. e.g. Spaghetti with /ʃp/).

The trigraph sch is pronounced /ʃ/, except when there is an intervening morpheme boundary, which normally happens only with the diminutive suffix -chen (cf. e.g. Häuschen).

Otherwise, pre-consonantal and word-final s is always pronounced /s/. This also includes st, sp when they are not stem-initial. The same is generally true for doubled ss. There are, however, a few words in which ss may – optionally – be pronounced /z/ (e.g. Fussel, Massel, quasseln, Schussel). For the orthographic choice between ss and ß, see the latter.

Pronunciation

(letter) IPA^(key): /ɛs/, [ʔɛs]
- Audio (file)
- Homophones: ess, Es, es (last only when stressed, which is rare)
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /z/, /s/, /ʃ/ (see etymology section)

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the German alphabet, called es and written in the Latin script.
- 1877, Dr. Schröer, Gelegentliche Bemerkungen über erhöhte Ansprüche, die nun an die Aufzeichnung mundartlicher Sprachproben zu stellen wären, in: Die deutschen Mundarten. Zeitschrift für Dichtung, Forschung und Kritik. Herausgegeben von Dr. G. Karl Frommann. Siebenter Band (neuer Folge erster Band), page 15:
  Für die zweierlei S, das scharfe ß und das weiche, tönende s, sind die Zeichen s und ſ zu empfehlen. Letzteres wird im Französischen, Englischen, Holländischen, Polnischen, Madjarischen mit z bezeichnet, das wir nicht annehmen können, weil bei uns, wie schon bemerkt, z den Laut ts bezeichnet.
  (please add an English translation of this quote)

Noun

S

Abbreviation of Süd; south

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈʃ]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈɛʃː]
Audio (phoneme) (file)

Letter

S

The thirtieth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called ess and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	S	S-ek
accusative	S-et	S-eket
dative	S-nek	S-eknek
instrumental	S-sel	S-ekkel
causal-final	S-ért	S-ekért
translative	S-sé	S-ekké
terminative	S-ig	S-ekig
essive-formal	S-ként	S-ekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	S-ben	S-ekben
superessive	S-en	S-eken
adessive	S-nél	S-eknél
illative	S-be	S-ekbe
sublative	S-re	S-ekre
allative	S-hez	S-ekhez
elative	S-ből	S-ekből
delative	S-ről	S-ekről
ablative	S-től	S-ektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	S-é	S-eké
non-attributive possessive - plural	S-éi	S-ekéi

Possessive forms of S
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	S-em	S-eim
2nd person sing.	S-ed	S-eid
3rd person sing.	S-e	S-ei
1st person plural	S-ünk	S-eink
2nd person plural	S-etek	S-eitek
3rd person plural	S-ük	S-eik

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /s/

Letter

S (lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈɛs.se/
- Rhymes: -ɛsse
(phonemic realization, between vowels) IPA^(key): /z/, /s/
(phonemic realization, when followed by a voiceless consonant) IPA^(key): /s/
(phonemic realization, when followed by a voiced consonant) IPA^(key): /z/

Letter

S f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case s)

The seventeenth letter of the Italian alphabet, called esse and written in the Latin script.

Noun

S m

Abbreviation of sud; south

Japanese

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) エス [éꜜsù] (Atamadaka – [1])
IPA^(key): [e̞sɨᵝ]

Etymology 1

From English superior.

Noun

S(エス) • (esu)

(education) highest academic grading in the S-A-B-C-F scale
(chiefly video games) S, the highest rank or grade (above A) commonly used in ranking systems in video games

Descendants

English: S

Etymology 2

From English small.

Noun

S(エス) • (esu)

small size

Synonyms

小(しょう) (shō)

Related terms

L
M

Etymology 3

From English sadism; compare English S&M.

Noun

S(エス) • (esu)

(sexuality, euphemistic) sadism, sadist
(colloquial) dominant personality

Antonyms

M(エム) (emu)

Derived terms

ドS(エス) (do-esu)

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [s]

Letter

S

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-sixth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called es and written in the Latin script.

Malay

Pronunciation

(Name of letter) IPA^(key): [ɛs]
(Phoneme) IPA^(key): [s]

Letter

S

The nineteenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /s/

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-first letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛs/

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Polish alphabet, called es and written in the Latin script.

Portuguese

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romani

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /s/

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

(International Standard) The twenty-fourth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(Pan-Vlax) The twenty-fifth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /s/

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-second letter of the Romanian alphabet, called es, se, or sî and written in the Latin script.

Saanich

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /s/

Letter

S

The twenty-sixth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /s/

Letter

S (lower case s)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovene

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Somali

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /s/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /sæ/

Letter

S upper case (lower case s)

The ninth letter of the Somali alphabet, called sa and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

The ninth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by R and followed by SH.

Spanish

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twentieth letter of the Spanish alphabet, called es and written in the Latin script.

Noun

S m

Abbreviation of sur; south

Swedish

Proper noun

S

Abbreviation of Socialdemokraterna (“Swedish Social Democratic Party”).

Turkish

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-second letter of the Turkish alphabet, called se and written in the Latin script.

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɛt̚˧˦ si˨˩], [ʔɛt̚˧˦ si˨˩], [səː˨˩], [səː˨˩ naŋ˧˨ʔ]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɛt̚˦˧˥ ʂɪj˦˩], [ʔɛt̚˦˧˥ sɪj˦˩], [ʂəː˦˩], [ʂəː˦˩ naŋ˨˩ʔ]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɛk̚˦˥ ʂɪj˨˩], [ʔɛk̚˦˥ sɪj˨˩], [ʂəː˨˩], [ʂəː˨˩ naŋ˨˩˨] ~ [ʔɛk̚˦˥ sɪj˨˩], [ʔɛk̚˦˥ sɪj˨˩], [səː˨˩], [səː˨˩ naŋ˨˩˨]
Phonetic: ét sì, ét xì, sờ, sờ nặng

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-third letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called ét, ét-xì, sờ, or sờ nặng and written in the Latin script.

Welsh

Pronunciation

(standard) IPA^(key): /ɛs/
- (informal) IPA^(key): /s/

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called ès and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by Rh and followed by T.

Mutation

S cannot be mutated in Welsh.

Yoruba

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /s/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /sí/

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The twentieth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called sí and written in the Latin script.

Zulu

Letter

S (upper case, lower case s)

The nineteenth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.