S - What is "S"



S, s

   /ɛs/ [es]
noun, plural S's or Ss, s's or ss.
1.
the 19th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
2.
any spoken sound represented by the letter S or s, as in saw, sense, or goose.
3.
something having the shape of an S.
4.
a written or printed representation of the letter S or s.
5.
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter S or s.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

S

 
1.
satisfactory.
2.
Saxon.
3.
sentence.
4.
short.
5.
Electricity. siemens.
6.
signature.
7.
single.
8.
small.
9.
soft.
10.
Music. soprano.
11.
South.
12.
Southern.
13.
state (highway).
14.
Grammar. subject.

S

 
Symbol.
1.
the 19th in order or in a series, or, when I is omitted, the 18th.
2.
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 7 or 70. Compare Roman numerals.
3.
second.
4.
Biochemistry. serine.
5.
Thermodynamics. entropy.
6.
Physics. strangeness.
7.
sulfur.

s

 
1.
satisfactory.
2.
signature.
3.
small.
4.
soft.
5.
south.

s

 
Symbol.
second.

's

1 
an ending used in writing to represent the possessive morpheme after most singular nouns, some plural nouns, especially those not ending in a letter or combination of letters representing an s or z sound, noun phrases, and noun substitutes, as in man's, women's, baby's, James's, witness's, (or witness'), king of England's, or anyone's.
Origin:
Middle English -es, Old English

's

2 
1.
contraction of is: She's here.
2.
contraction of does: What's he do for a living now?
3.
contraction of has: He's just gone.
Usage note
See contraction.

's

3 
Archaic.
a contraction of God's, as in 'swounds; 'sdeath; 'sblood.

's

4 
a contraction of us, as in Let's go.
Usage note
See contraction.

's

5 
a contraction of as, as in so's to get there on time.

-s

1 
a native English suffix used in the formation of adverbs: always; betimes; needs; unawares.
Compare -ways.

Origin:
Middle English -es, Old English; ultimately identical with 's1

-s

2 
an ending marking the third person singular indicative active of verbs: walks.
Origin:
Middle English (north) -(e)s, Old English (north); orig. ending of 2nd person singular, as in Latin and Greek; replacing Middle English, Old English -eth -eth1

-s

3 
an ending marking nouns as plural (boys; wolves), occurring also on nouns that have no singular (dregs; entrails; pants; scissors), or on nouns that have a singular with a different meaning (clothes; glasses; manners; thanks). The pluralizing value of -s3 is weakened or lost in a number of nouns that now often take singular agreement, as the names of games (billiards; checkers; tiddlywinks) and of diseases (measles; mumps; pox; rickets); the latter use has been extended to create informal names for a variety of involuntary conditions, physical or mental (collywobbles; d.t.'s; giggles; hots; willies). A parallel set of formations, where -s3 has no plural value, are adjectives denoting socially unacceptable or inconvenient states (bananas; bonkers; crackers; nuts; preggers; starkers); compare -ers.
Also, -es.

Origin:
Middle English -(e)s, Old English -as, plural nominative and accusative ending of some masculine nouns

-s

4 
a suffix of hypocoristic nouns, generally proper names or forms used only in address: Babs; Fats; Suzykins; Sweetums; Toodles.
Origin:
probably from the metonymic use of nouns formed with -s3, as boots or Goldilocks

S.

 
1.
Sabbath.
2.
Saint.
3.
Saturday.
4.
Saxon.
5.
(in Austria) schilling; schillings.
6.
School.
7.
Sea.
8.
Senate.
9.
September.
10.
shilling; shillings.
11.
(in prescriptions)
a.
mark; write; label. Origin:
< Latin signa
b.
let it be written. Origin:
< Latin signētur
12.
Signor.
13.
Small.
14.
Socialist.
15.
Society.
16.
Fellow. Origin:
< Latin socius
17.
sol3 (def. 1).
18.
South.
19.
Southern.
20.
(in Ecuador) sucre; sucres.
21.
Sunday.

s.

 
1.
saint.
2.
school.
3.
second.
4.
section.
5.
see.
6.
series.
7.
shilling; shillings.
8.
sign.
9.
signed.
10.
silver.
11.
singular.
12.
sire.
13.
small.
14.
society.
15.
son.
16.
south.
17.
southern.
18.
steamer.
19.
stem.
20.
stem of.
21.
substantive.
Collins
World English Dictionary
s or S (ɛs)
 
—n , pl s's, S's, Ss
1.   the 19th letter and 15th consonant of the modern English alphabet
2.   a speech sound represented by this letter, usually an alveolar fricative, either voiceless, as in sit, or voiced, as in dogs
3.   a.  something shaped like an S
  b.  (in combination): an S-bend in a road
 
S or S
 
—n

s or S (ɛs)
 
—n , pl s's, S's, Ss
1.   the 19th letter and 15th consonant of the modern English alphabet
2.   a speech sound represented by this letter, usually an alveolar fricative, either voiceless, as in sit, or voiced, as in dogs
3.   a.  something shaped like an S
  b.  (in combination): an S-bend in a road
 
S or S
 
—n

s
 
—symbol for
second (of time)

S
 
—symbol for
1.   satisfactory
2.   Society
3.   small (size)
4.   South
5.   chem sulphur
6.   physics
  a.  entropy
  b.  siemens
  c.  strangeness
7.   currency
  a.  (the former) schilling
  b.  sol
  c.  (the former) sucre
 
—abbreviation for
8.   Sweden (international car registration)

Etymonline
Word Origin & History

-s
third pers. sing. pres. indic. suffix of verbs, it represents O.E. -es, -as, which began to replace -eð in Northumbrian 10c., and gradually spread south until by Shakespeare it had emerged from colloquialism and -eth began to be limited to more dignified speeches.
Merriam-Webster
Medical Dictionary

S definition

Function: abbreviation
1 sacral —used especially with a number from 1 to 5 to indicate a vertebra or segment of the spinal cord in the sacral region <the relative length of cord segments S1 to S5 >
2 signa —used to introduce the signature in writing a prescription
3 smooth —used of bacterial colonies
4 subject
5 svedberg

S definition

Function: symbol
sulfur
American Heritage

s abbr.

  1. Latin semis (half)

  2. Latin sinister (left)

S
The symbol for the element sulfur.

American Heritage
Science Dictionary
s  

  1. Abbreviation of second (of time), second (of an arc)

  2. The symbol for strangeness.
S  
The symbol for sulfur.
sulfur also sulphur   (sŭl'fər)  Pronunciation Key 
Symbol S
A pale-yellow, brittle nonmetallic element that occurs widely in nature, especially in volcanic deposits, minerals, natural gas, and petroleum. It is used to make gunpowder and fertilizer, to vulcanize rubber, and to produce sulfuric acid. Atomic number 16; atomic weight 32.066; melting point (rhombic) 112.8°C; (monoclinic) 119.0°C; boiling point 444.6°C; specific gravity (rhombic) 2.07; (monoclinic) 1.957; valence 2, 4, 6. See Periodic Table.
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

S definition

language
A statistical analysis language from AT&T.
["S: An Interactive Environment for Data Analysis and Graphics", Richard A. Becker, Wadsworth 1984].
(1997-01-21)

American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
s

  1. second

  2. second

  3. split

  4. stere

  5. strange quark
S

  1. entropy

  2. safety

  3. Samuel

  4. satisfactory

  5. Saturday

  6. Senate

  7. send (shortwave transmission)

  8. sentence

  9. sexual [situations] (television rating)

  10. siemens

  11. single (as in personal ads)

  12. small

  13. smoking section

  14. soprano

  15. south

  16. southern

  17. straight (as in personal ads)

  18. strike

  19. sulfur

  20. Sunday

  21. sunny

  22. superior

  23. Sweden (international vehicle ID)
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

s

fundamental unit of time, now defined in terms of the radiation frequency at which atoms of the element cesium change from one state to another.

Learn more about s with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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